Traffic cones and construction noises are appearing in downtown Moab and along Kane Creek, but these are just the most visible signs of the work that goes into maintaining the city’s infrastructure.
“When we talk about these projects, a lot of times we end up just talking about the surface,” said Moab’s Community Development Director Michael Black in a recent interview with the Moab Sun News. Black is talking about Kane Creek Boulevard, but almost every item on the list of infrastructure improvement projects is similar.
“On the surface, you can see that there are big issues,” said Black, “but I think it’s important to realize that we have people at the city who are paying attention to things underground and trying to figure out a way to replace all of our aging infrastructure. That’s an enormous part of the cost of running the system.”
Mark Jolissaint is one of those people who knows what lies beneath. For years, as the assistant city engineer, he’s worked with other staff using cameras to snake through all the city’s water and sewer lines, creating a master list of each place where the aging pipes seem at risk of crumbling or collapsing.
“Once upon a time, when I started working here back in 2015, it was me sitting in front of a computer, watching videos from a little camera that goes through the sewers and making detailed notes of a crack here or there,” Jolissaint said. “That’s the way it begins, and all that ends up in a master plan list and we go from there.”
“The system, in a lot of these places, is so outdated and so old that it just has to be replaced,” he said. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
Each repair is important, but often projects must wait to find funding.
“If you’re in a big metropolitan area, you could run a bond for a hundred million dollars or something to address these types of things in one go,” Black said. “But here we’re taking care of them one three-quarter mile section at a time.”
It has taken eight years to find funding for the improvement of a short, heavily used section of Kane Creek Boulevard. The road will be upgraded to be a “complete street,” built to be bike and pedestrian-friendly and accommodate all modes of travel while also allowing needed improvement below the paving. The road will remain open to travel throughout the build.
The other large project beginning this week is the construction of downtown dispersed parking. The parking project has been long-discussed as funding from the Utah Department of Transportation which was originally intended to be put toward a parking garage was redirected into other transportation projects, including the Moab Area Transit bus system and the addition of over 190 parking spaces throughout the downtown area.
The project will add center-angle parking, center islands, benches and bicycle racks and other aesthetic improvements.
“Downtown dispersed parking is not just about parking. It’s going to provide really great pedestrian connections,” Black said. “So hopefully what we get from that is we get more people parking and walking around downtown.”
The construction is planned in two-block phases and is expected to last six to eight months.
“The goal is getting out as quickly as possible,” Black said.
Information, including designs, schedules and opportunities to comment on city infrastructure projects, is available on Engage Moab (engagemoab.com), a new online hub to make accessing information on construction and initiatives easier for residents.
But with so many places that need repair, how are projects prioritized? Jolissaint said that with so many projects on the list, securing money is often the pragmatic deciding factor in what gets done first.
“We have to go where the opportunities lead us, because money is tight,” Jolissaint said. “We talk about projects downtown a lot since we’re getting grants and UDOT would like to see people park off Main Street to reduce traffic congestion.”
“If it was not a matter of funding, we would follow exactly the way that the master plan lays out the priorities,” Black said. “But if we can do number five before number one because there’s funding available for number five that won’t pay for number one, we’ll do number five just to get it out of the way.”
Projects on the list planned for later in 2024 include working on the Downtown Master Plan, a sewer outfall project and the construction of a new water tank.
“Design is starting for the water tank,” Black said. “That one is a three-and-a-half-million dollar project. We’ve gotten a grant for half of that amount. It’ll be great to get that one crossed off the list.”
To see all the projects on the City of Mob’s engineering master plans, go to moabcity.org/477/Master-Plans.
To keep up-to-date on construction on Kane Creek Boulevard and downtown, go to engagemoab.com.
