By KRISTEN SONNE and The Associated Press
An Interstate 15 reconstruction information campaign will address Utah residents’ concerns about the impending project beginning Monday.
Gov. Mike Leavitt unveiled the public relations campaign in a press conference at UDOT’s headquarters in the Calvin Rampton Complex in Taylorsville.
“The reconstruction of the I-15 corridor is the most massive project of its kind ever undertaken in Utah — or in any other state,” Leavitt said.
The goal of the campaign is to meet the information needs of state’s residents, he said.
The legislature will have to decide where the $400,000 will come from to fund the campaign, said Rose Sherry, assistant public information manager.
“We put the programs together, and it is up to the legislature to figure out how to fund them,” she said.
Many programs are being put together for the public relations campaign. One of those is the “Friendly Spirit of Utah’s Roads,” Satch.
The program is represented by a heart shaped logo, and includes a telephone hotline to help residents cope with the I-15 reconstruction.
Satch appeared in a series of television ads that began Monday to help prepare Utahns for the $1.36 billion project. The construction will affect 17 miles of freeway between Sandy and Salt Lake City. The roads will be torn up, rebuilt and widened from six to 10 lanes.
The idea of the campaign for Satch was around in the 1960s when I-15 was built through the Salt Lake Valley. Satch helped Utahns survive that mess.
Among the communications strategies introduced during the press conference was the availability of information on the World Wide Web at www.i15.state.ut.us.
This site is already working. The new heart shaped logo greets internet surfers when the site is contacted. Visitors can choose a variety of information regarding the I-15 reconstruction.
This includes updates, schedules, traffic maintenance, UDOT information and other links related to issues in Utah.
“The information on the website will be updated throughout the construction for the period of four and half years,” Sherry said. “We also have a presentation we will give to companies and organizations throughout construction, which will give background information and a general overview of the I-15 corridor reconstruction.”
Depending on the group that requests a speaker, Sherry said she will get a specialist to address the issues concerning the group.
Any group can request a speaker by calling 288-3248. Also, a group can borrow a videotaped version of a presentation.
Beginning next week, residents of Salt Lake City and Davis County can begin looking for the tapes at their neighborhood libraries, Sherry said.
Larry Becknell, vice president and area manager of Parson, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas, Inc., will address students during a Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar Feb. 20 in 377 CB at 11 a.m.
Other aspects of the information campaign include that 1530-AM will broadcast Highway Advisory Radio this spring, large electronic signs will flash information to travelers.
