EM Blvd. restriping underway this week
To this point, weather has stymied the completion of work to repaint the lanes on Eagle Mountain Blvd.
That is about to change as contract workers are planning to begin work on Thursday of this week to apply paint to the roadway.
“I am looking forward to getting the traffic paint restriped” says Streets department manager Zac Hilton.
A section of Eagle Mountain Blvd. was widened in the summer of 2022 to accommodate projected increases in traffic flows in the area. As part of that project, the City intended to use the help of an outside firm to begin restriping.
City Engineer Chris Trusty has previously said he recognizes that the road was striped in less-than-ideal conditions after the widening project was completed last year.
“The road was a little bit dirty when we did it before and it was cold,” Trusty said. “And we don’t want to make that mistake again.”
Dirt on the roadway can prevent road paint from properly adhering to the pavement.
After noticing a change in the presence of the road paint last year, many residents began expressing their dissatisfaction on social media, and through formal complaints to the City that Eagle Mountain Blvd. was dangerous to drive.
“I drove that this morning in the rain! The lines at Aviator and EM Blvd are not visible at all! Striping needs to happen ASAP,” said Hillary Clark on social media.
“Breaking News: Eagle Mountain City not doing something that was promised…” said Richard Beers in another Facebook comment.
In response to earlier resident concerns, the City’s Street’s department installed reflective road tags to improve visibility. Still, Eagle Mountain City continues to respond to resident requests to complete the work.
“I understand resident’s concerns and frustration with the missing traffic paint,” says Hilton. “It has really been an issue between scheduling and dealing with poor weather.”
Delays surrounding the restriping of Eagle Mountain Blvd. can be attributed to factors such as cold weather and precipitation. Conditions must be consistently between 40-60 degrees at a minimum for three or four days before they’re considered optimal for restriping.
As a result, Hilton says the cost to risk restriping the roadway wasn’t worth it to the City and the taxpayer.
“If we would have attempted to re-stripe during these types of weather conditions, it wouldn’t have lasted,” says Hilton.
As work commences this week to complete repainting on Eagle Mountain Blvd., crews will be removing what is left of the existing paint, cleaning the road to ensure a lasting application and begin re-directing traffic. Due to mechanical issues earlier in the day on Thursday, the re-alignment portion of Eagle Mountain Blvd. will be rescheduled for Tuesday of next week.
The hope, according to Trusty, is that by waiting until conditions are appropriate, road paint will last for several years. Periodic touch-ups will be needed annually.
