SJHS News

Madie Dockstader
SJHS Staff Writer

To improve mobility for Springville and Mapleton, the Utah Department of Transportation is expanding 400 South in Springville from I-15 to Main Street. Construction began in the summer of 2008 and the major construction activities will be complete, and the roadway will open in the fall of this year. The whole project will be completed in the spring of 2010.

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is going to rebuild the existing freeway exit, add a lane along southbound I-15 between the two Springville interchanges, widen 400 South to four lanes from I-15 to Main Street in Springville, and build a new bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad at 1500 West and replace the existing bridge at 400 West.

Mrs. Kathryn Crandall, teacher at SJHS, and her family own a ranch near the construction, and when asked how the road construction affects her family’s ranch she said, “It creates a lot of traffic that makes it difficult getting equipment back and forth to the other side of the freeway.” She also said, “It will be worth it in the long run.”

Mrs. Mary Rice, another teacher at Springville Junior High, said, “As part of my responsibilities as a teacher, I occasionally visit students. The road construction has made it difficult to visit students who live in certain neighborhoods.” She also said, “I hope that the people who live in those neighborhoods will have access to safe, reasonable traffic flow patterns, and I can go back to home visiting with ease when the construction is over.”