By BECKY FLETCHE
Bumper-to-bumper traffic is too mild to describe the area surrounding the entrance to Utah Valley State College and the 1200 South ramps to Interstate-15.
A roundabout, UVSC’s proposed solution to the heavy traffic, was announced at a traffic meeting held earlier this month. A roundabout is a circular road with entrances and exits for drivers to enter and leave typically found in Europe.
Plans for the roundabout, the first constructed in Utah, are still conceptual, said Val Peterson, UVSC assistant vice president of college relations.
“All road improvement plans are waiting approval,” he said at a press conference Tuesday night.
Residents reviewed conceptual drawings showing possible improvements to UVSC’s peripheral road, the roundabout, a short-term parking area, improved access to I-15 and a drop-off point at the school’s entrance that would provide easier access to buses.
UVSC will hold a construction bid in May and hopes to start part of the road improvement this summer. The road improvements — which have an estimated price tag of $6.8 million — is divided into two phases.
The first phase includes building the roundabout and widening College Drive into three lanes with traffic flowing in both directions. A middle turn lane could be used as a traffic lane during high-impact special events.
The second phase would be to construct a new access to the campus from the northbound I-15 offramp that will require two underpasses. One would be on the east side under 1200 South and the other would be under the northbound I-15 on-ramp.
The construction itself will cause traffic growth and additional headaches because the project could be finished as early as the middle of September after both BYU and UVSC commence Fall Semester, Brough said.
