New Life for the 200 South Transit Corridor

Street construction is always a challenge, but the resiliency of the project team helped to transform 200 South into a prime example of an accommodating street for business and all modes of transportation.
By Taylor Larsen

“What does this corridor want to be when it grows up?”

The question posed by Kyle Cook was the impetus for the 200 South Reconstruction project. It helped usher in a new era for Salt Lake City’s bus corridor with the tagline:

“200 South—A Place of Motion”

Cook, PE and Transportation Engineer for Salt Lake City, said 200 South was discussed years before design and construction commenced, namely from the capital city’s 2017 Transit Master Plan. After evaluating 15 corridors, 200 South was deemed the most important.

“A strategic corridor,” said Cook of the area from Salt Lake Central Station to the University of Utah.

Working in tandem with UTA and multiple Salt Lake City departments, the design would condense the five lanes of the old street into three passenger vehicle lanes, two dedicated bus lanes, and two bike lanes. It would create a street that matches the urban character of the area, one that is much safer and better equipped to handle the multimodal traffic on 200 South.

Building for Community Needs

As the Salt Lake City team went from master plan to design in the early days of the pandemic, they turned to online workshops, surveys, and virtual town halls on Facebook Live to get feedback on what folks hoped to see from a reconstructed 200 South along an area between 900 East and 400 West.

“At the time, that was pretty novel for us,” Cook said of that public involvement work from the city and AECOM consultants, who served as project prime. “But I think we got very good at it.”

They took in nearly 1,000 survey responses plus online event insights to determine the street needed to accommodate not just buses and passenger vehicles, but pedestrians, cyclists, and the array of businesses housed along the corridor.

Reconstruction of 200 South was a two-phase project, where Phase 1 would cover 900 East to 200 East, and Phase 2 would reconstruct the far busier part of the project between 200 East and 400 West.

Working with the Business Community

Road construction is the bane of many and grows more challenging for a project team attempting to accommodate businesses and travelers while building in an urban environment.

“It’s as downtown as it gets,” said Brett Kearns of the project scope. “The amount of vehicular or foot traffic passing through, and knowing you have to re-do the entire street, remove curb, gutter, and flatwork—it’s a huge concern.”

Kearns, Project Manager/Estimator for Acme Construction, said they worked hand in hand with Salt Lake City and the public engagement team at Avenue Consultants to address business needs as construction continued between each phase.

“In order for 200 South to succeed, we have to have good contact within our team and good contact with businesses,” said Kearns.

“The first thing we did was canvas on the corridor,” said Stacee Adams, Public Involvement Manager from Avenue Consultants, who managed public involvement from the end of design through project completion. Adams said the team “went business to business” to show them what would go in place, infrastructure amenities, and what to expect in construction.

Beyond the initial meet-and-greet, the team hosted workshops at Gallivan Plaza, took daily phone calls, and met with businesses monthly to keep them in the know. They also provided information to event attendees at places like the Greek Fest (300 West) and the Salt Palace (West Temple - 200 West) to keep visitors aware of construction impacts.

Working Around the Barriers

Acme’s experience on other Salt Lake City projects, notably the successful 900 South Corridor reconstruction, gave the city confidence that the Acme team would build community trust in each phase. That proved especially critical with the Capitol Theatre (50 West).

Uneven grades surrounding the building posed one challenge while accommodating Capitol Theatre’s busy schedule posed another.

Beyond venue patrons, “[Capitol Theatre] has load-in for their stage equipment, performers and costuming coming in, plus students coming in on school days for plays,” said Adams of the complicated logistics plan required.

“We found out the best time for them was for construction to work from the beginning of July to August 15th,” said Kearns, who noted the atypical nature of the project required a level of dedication matched by the construction team across both phases.

Kearns especially praised Acme Superintendent Herman Sword, who coordinated across the project’s two phases and ongoing construction projects nearby to ensure good outcomes for everyone. The Acme team installed plenty of asphalt and concrete to give the road and sidewalk new life around a bevy of ongoing work. Enbridge Gas installed their pipeline along the same corridor, Royal Wood Plaza (230 West) underwent demolition, and construction progressed on Zephyr Lofts (370 West) and Astra Tower (State Street).

What it took to transform 200 South

775,000 SF of new asphalt pavement with embedded fiberglass paving grid to extend the life of the road
80,800 SF of concrete in the form of sidewalks, ADA ramps, and bus boarding platforms to improve accessibility
14,100 linear feet of curb to maintain drainage
2,070 linear feet of storm drain between 200 East - 400 East to keep water off the road
Over two miles of new dedicated bike lanes (6” concrete pavement) to separate bikes from vehicular traffic

“It was a hopscotch and jump across the project,” Kearns said, made especially difficult as many of the projects, especially the Enbridge Gas pipeline reconstruction, ran into delays. But Acme and their construction trade partners continued, “determining how we could play in the same sandbox and get things done.”

According to Kearns, while pipeline construction began on 200 East and worked eastward, Sword and the Acme trade partners leapfrogged pipeline construction to remove infrastructure on other parts of the corridor reconstruction. Sword’s deft planning and coordination utilized smaller crews that worked across the project scope to accommodate area regulars and push the project forward. Their work with business owners resulted in a solution where construction trades worked during certain businesses’ downtimes. Construction teams laid and cured concrete in one area before jumping to the next area to place road base or metal bridges leading to building entrances, keeping people moving in and out of businesses to keep a sense of normalcy around the project area.

“When we put out a three-week look-ahead, we were able to get our message out quickly,” said Kearns. “I think that’s where we excelled.”

A Street Renewed

Today, the 200 South corridor is one renewed with the infrastructure and upgrades to take commuters across the project’s 13 city blocks and better serve businesses housed there.

200 South Upgrades

Colored priority lanes for buses and bikes
20 in-lane bus stops with bus boarding platforms
Buffered bike lanes channelized behind boarding platforms with intersection safety upgrades,
Sidewalk and curb ramp repairs to meet ADA standards,
Six mid-block crossings that included things like curb extensions, refuge islands, and flashing crosswalk lights for pedestrian safety and convenience,
Curbside parking and loading zones for freight and passenger vehicles,
36 new trees—hooray for greenery!

Cook noted that collaboration across the project, especially UTA’s $2 million contribution, showcased Salt Lake City’s ability to successfully build a stellar transit corridor.

“It’s nothing new for municipalities to advocate for high-quality transit. However, there is a prevailing expectation that UTA operates the transit service and therefore anything transit-related comes through them. But who owns the streets? Who controls the traffic signals? Who manages sidewalks, crosswalks, and park strips? This project shows how Salt Lake City is proactively partnering with UTA to enhance bus transit.”

As the project team looked back, they were immensely proud of what they accomplished to rebuild the 200 South corridor.

“There are a lot of safety aspects to these [Salt Lake City] projects, where we’re adding transit and pedestrian facilities and increasing visibility,” said Kearns, who praised Salt Lake City’s foresight in developing such an impactful project. “If we can save just one life, it makes it all worth it.”

For Adams, the biggest point of pride was the resiliency in the face of construction challenges.

“I love the fact that people stayed on that corridor, that they walked and biked,” Adams said. “[Construction] didn’t deter people from the way they live their life and the way they use 200 South.”

Today, getting east and west is easier and more comfortable than ever on the 200 South corridor. Good urban construction in the capital city has breathed new life into infrastructure and made a welcoming street for all.

200 South Reconstruction

Location: 200 South, 400 West - 900 East
Cost: $17 million (construction) + $2 million from UTA for shelters, benches, garbage receptacles, safety railings, lighting, and real-time digital information systems
Construction Timeline: May 2022 - November 2024

Owner: Salt Lake City Corp.
Owner’s Rep: Parker Bradley, PE

Public Involvement: Avenue Consultants, Bill Knowles

Design Team & Subconsultants

Prime Consultant: AECOM

Subsurface Utility Engineering: KCI Technologies, Inc.

Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Urban Design: Township + Range

Urban, Landscape, and Irrigation Design: GSBS Architects

Street Lights & Electrical Engineering: Clanton & Associates

Construction Team

General Contractor: Acme Construction

Excavation: Acme Construction

Drainage: Brinkerhoff Excavating

Trucking/Hauling: Acme Construction

Asphalt Paving: Kilgore Contracting (Phase 1), Granite Construction (Phase 2)

Electrical: Skyline Electric (Phase 1), Cache Valley Electric (Phase 2)

Concrete: Acme Construction

Signs: Peck Striping

Striping: RoadSafe Traffic Systems

Survey: REDCON Land Surveying

Landscaping: Waterscape Landscaping

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