Giving residents and visitors a much-needed break from snarled traffic ahead of the holidays, much of the road work in Salt Lake City’s Sugar House neighborhood will wrap up by Thanksgiving, according to city officials.
The 1100 East Highland project, which started in 2023, will finish by mid-November, according to city engineer Mark Stephens. The project areas are:
Highland Drive, from Ramona Avenue to Warnock Avenue.
1100 East, from 900 South to Logan Avenue.
Construction on 1100 East as it becomes Highland Drive, at 2100 South, is fully finished aside from “basic landscaping,” Stephens said.
The next stage of the 2100 South construction will focus on the west end of the project’s limits, between 700 East and 900 East.
Construction on 2100 South between 700 East and 1300 East – a main artery in the Sugar House district – began in early March. The project, funded in part by a $87 million road bond approved by city residents in 2018, looks to improve pedestrian crosswalks and provide additional space for bus stops. The entire project is set to finish in November 2025.
Stephens credited construction company Stacy Witbeck for “finishing intermediate milestones ahead of schedule throughout the entire 2024 construction season. … And they aren’t slowing down.”
Sugar House residents and businesses should expect construction to slow during the holidays, in what Stephens said was a “natural slow down of work” in the winter. Instead of asphalt paving, this winter’s construction will primarily focus on sewage work between 700 and 900 East, he said.
In Sugar House and downtown, yearly moratoriums during the holiday months also slows construction to allow shopping access.
During the winter construction season, residents should expect open sidewalks, at least one open lane for cars and construction noise only during the day, Stephens said.
“We know that construction impacts are real. We understand that it interrupts normal people’s schedules,” he said. “That’s why it’s our focus to ensure that we expedite the construction to the extent possible.”
For businesses in the crosshairs of construction, wayfinding signs will be placed near their entrances. A $3,000 Small Business Construction Mitigation Grant is also available for businesses near construction zones.
But for some businesses — like Black Cat Comics, which received the $3,000 in funds in 2023 — the grant isn’t enough, the owner said last year.
Fall 2024′s grant covers 10 active construction projects, including 2100 South from 700 East to Yuma Street.
Scott Lyttle, co-owner of the tea and wine cafe Tea Zaanti at 1944 S. 1100 East, said he’s excited for the increased bike and walkability of the area, but added that the last year has been a “challenge.”
“This year, our business dropped,” Lyttle said. “The impression is that Sugar House is closed.”
Moving forward, Lyttle hopes construction impact will be “half of what it was.”
Stephens said the mayor’s office and the Department of Economic Development are working to do more to help mitigate the harm construction does to businesses.
“It’s in the city’s best interest and then everyone’s best interest to complete work as quickly as possible,” Stephens said, adding that “access to businesses are open.”
