By Jessica Kehr
jessica@newsroom.byu.edu
Reconstruction of Center Street in Orem will begin this weekend or the beginning of next week.
There is no specific date set for the beginning of the project, because the Utah Department of Transportation is waiting for the insurance forms to go through, said UDOT project manager Dan Nelson.
The reconstruction project includes the complete reconstruction of Center Street from 1200 West to the Provo City boundary.
The area from 400 West to 800 West and 400 East to 800 East will be closed for the first phase of the reconstruction.
The work done during the first phase on 400 East to 800 East will be the relay of 6 inches of asphalt and the road will also be widened to five lanes of traffic, said Kim Sherrington, South Area Operations Manager of Staker Paving.
Sherrington also said that during this phase Staker Paving will also rebuild 12 inches of road base and asphalt on 800 West to 400 West.
Two crews will be used simultaneously on the east section and the west section to speed up the work, said John Parks, assistant City Manager.
'We hope to minimize the affects to businesses and make sure that this program doesn't into the Christmas season,' Parks said.
The alternate routes will be 400 South and 400 North, which is 12 blocks out of the way, Parks said.
This phase of the project will conclude in a little over a month, Sherrington said.
Chad Hendry is overseeing a group of Center street residents and businesses called Center Street Community representatives.
The group will receive updates from the city along with information and detailed plans for the project, Hendry said.
Representatives will be from neighborhoods, communities and businesses along the street.
This is a group of that people on the street can go to, Parks said.
Sherrington also said that the entire project could last into the beginning of next year. The deadline to finish the project is June 1st.