ST. GEORGE — The Arizona Department of Transportation began another construction project in the Virgin River Gorge area, causing major delays to travelers Tuesday.
The construction involves paving northbound lanes currently on Interstate 15 at milepost 17 by Cedar Pockets and then five more miles north at milepost 22. Both areas are merged down to one lane.
Traffic was backed up from the northbound lanes’ entrance to the Virgin River Gorge nearby Littlefield and Beaver Dam, Arizona, less than seven miles from the Virgin River No. 1 Bridge Project at Beaver Dam/Littlefield on the I-15.
The bridge project involves rebuilding the bridge and is not expected to be completed until Spring 2024.
Travelers have reported anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour of travel to get through the two construction work zones — a little over 6 miles.
Traveling guidelines recommend drivers ensure they have plenty of water and gas, as well as a working air conditioner while traveling through the area. Other recommendations are to be patient, remember to zipper merge, and obey all posted signage, markings and cones.
The paving process of the northbound lanes of I-15 is due to be done Tuesday night, ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel told St. George News. Work to narrow the southbound lanes between mile markers 17-30 will start tomorrow but will be done by the weekend.
“The Arizona Department of Transportation plans to have crews doing pavement repairs from approximately 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday (July 26-28) in several areas along southbound I-15,” he said.
Drivers are asked to use caution when around crews and machinery.
“We’re asking drivers who know about the restrictions to allow at least an hour’s extra travel time,” Nintzel said. “If they can adjust their travel schedules to late afternoon or overnight hours, that should help. It’s never easy to restrict the highway but we know that these spot repairs along I-15 will make for a smoother ride moving forward. As always, we appreciate the patience of drivers while this improvement work is taking place.”
For more about the current status of the roads within the work zones, visit the AZ 511 website.
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