Dallas Hawkes representing the Utah County I-15 Corridor Expansion spoke to several representatives of city government, the business communities about the current status of the I-15 interchanges where the freeway passes through Spanish Fork last Thursday. The original scope of this 2008 project was an upgrade of I-15 from American Fork to Spanish Fork. With the economic downturn and the reduced funding available, however, the project has been reduced to include only the area from American Fork to Provo Center Street.

Much of the work planned will involve rebuilding or replacing parts of the freeway that are reaching a point of nonserviceability. Work will include widening, bridge replacement, and other safety upgrades. The funding appropriated by the legislature in 2008 was 2.3 billion dollars, enough to pay for all work from American Fork to Spanish Fork. That initial appropriation was reduced to 1.7 billion last winter in light of the economic situation facing the state.

Three teams have been selected to compete for the contract on a design-build strategy. The teams, Flatiron-Skanska-Zachry, Provo River Constructors, and Timpanogos Transportation Constructors (TTC), will prepare bids that essentially describe how much work they can do for the total appropriated amount. All three teams are consortia of several smaller construction contractors working together. Their bids must include all work in the design that lies between American Fork and Provo Center Street. If a team deems that they can do that work for less than the appropriated amount, they are to look farther south to include high value work. The major criterion for awarding the contract will be how much work the state will get for the contract dollar amount.

No specific interchanges or other needs specific work sites south of Provo have been identified in negotiations with teams. However the teams have been asking questions about what is important beyond the required construction area. The CORE has tried to emphasize the importance of the Spanish Fork interchange in response. After the contract is awarded, there will likely be change orders, some of which could shift priorities on specific sections of road.

Hawkes pointed out that the University Avenue and both Springville overpasses are either finished or nearing completion. The Spanish Fork interchanges are the next in line moving south along the freeway. While the economic downturn has reduced the amount of state funding available for the I-15 corridor work, it has also significantly reduced the cost of construction material from steel to fill.

Since much of the existing road bed will be incorporated into the upgrade, there may be savings from contemplated construction that is not needed. The combined savings will hopefully be enough to build at least the Main Street part of the Spanish Fork interchange. CORE has met for 168 hours with the team representatives to discuss high value solutions located south of Provo.

The project is in the middle of the bid process with bids due on November 19. The announcement of the award will be made in mid December. Until that time, it is not possible to guess what work in addition to the American Fork-Provo stretch will be included. All three teams have visited Spanish Fork to collect information on the scope of work involved here.

Hawkes declined to speculate on whether any of the contractors planned to include Spanish Fork, citing the need to keep all of the teams' calculations confidential. Disclosing any information, even speculative, could interfere with a fair bidding process. Even after the bids are opened and the contract is awarded, it could be some time before it is known whether Spanish Fork will be included as full costs of other work may change during the term of the contract. Under this system, no additional finding is available for the project, even if there are cost overruns. Because of that restriction, the teams may quote prices that guarantee that they will not be faced with more costs than they can cover.