‘I don’t know how many of us are going to be here when it does finish,’ said the co-owner of The Locker Room.
Everyone is hoping that Salt Lake City will be finished with the construction on 1100 East in time for Sugar House Pride, said Potts. But Leah Jaramillo, who is the public engagement manager for the Highland Drive project and is also overseeing the public engagement team for the 2100 South project, said that due to utility delays, crews will be working on the west side of 1100 East at that time. However, the city expects the east side of 1100 East to be completed in mid-June.
The primary motivation for both the Highland Drive/1100 East project and the 2100 South project is to replace aging pavement as well as utilities — including water, sewer and storm drains — beneath the road, she said. One reason construction has been slow, she said, is that along 1100 East especially, tree roots have grown into water meters and irrigation systems that are currently being replaced. She said crews are using vacuum trucks, rather than large excavation equipment, to excavate around the trees in an effort not to damage their roots. On 2100 South, the contractor has put chain-link fencing around some mature trees close to the construction.
Crews are currently working on phase 2 of the Highland Drive/1100 East project, which extends from 2100 South to Logan Avenue. That phase is expected to be finished by November, Jaramillo said. That Monday, the coffee shop was inaccessible by car for about an hour, as crews worked on the traffic light at the intersection of 2100 South and Highland Drive, said Potts.This complete lack of access was rare, though, she said. It’s much more common for customers to be able to get to the coffee shop one way or another. But the temporary inaccessibility is only one example of the inconveniences that business owners and their customers have had to endure due to the construction.
Quarters Arcade Bar as road construction continues in Sugar House, Salt Lake City on Thursday, May 23, 2024. For Pib’s and Bruges, the apartments can’t be completed fast enough. On May 17, Bruges owner Pierre Vandamme sent a Tribune reporter a photo of construction crews working right in front of his business. “Resurfacing the road ... no business because of it,” he said via text. He said a subcontractor was resurfacing the trench they had to dig for the water supply to the new apartment buildings being built on Ashton.