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Show Waiting for the jackhammers? It won't be long, city says i by Christopher Smart What, no digging1? Not yet, but it won't be long now before construction crews from West-Con West-Con begin to dig a 12-foot-deep trench up Main Street for new utility lines. Main Street merchants got the final lowdown on the construction project in the monthly meeting of the Historic Main Street Association Tuesday. Community Development Director Mike Vance told merchants that the actual digging would begin at the end of next week. WestCon's official starting date was May 1. Vance said that until the City Council officially voted to award the contract on April 26, no materials had been ordered and on bonding could take place. But WestCon is still tied to a completion date of July 27. Main Street will be ready for the Art Festival Aug. 4-5, Vance said. The finaJ layer of pavement, however, will not be laid until mid-September. According to the plans, Vance said, the bottom of Main Street will be closed first. The section of the street from Heber Avenue to Fifth Street will be closed to auto traffic as soon as the actual digging begins, he said. After that section is completed, Vance said, the street will be closed from the Post Office to the Swede Alley entrance at the top of Main Street. From the Treasure Mountain Inn to Fifth Street, Main Strett traffic will be one-way downhill, according to Park City Police Chief Frank Bell. Main Street traffic will then exit on Fifth Street and return to Swede Alley. Forty five degree angle parking will be available on the east side of Main Street, he said. Two-hour parking in Swede Alley and on Main Street will be instituted as soon as the lower end of Main Street is closed, Bell said. For the first two weeks only "courtesy tickets" (no fines) will be given out. After that initial period, Bell said, real tickets will be given out. The program will be vigorously inforced. When construction begins, Bell said, a shuttle bus system will begin. The shuttle system will use the parking lots at the Park City Ski Area as "satellite parking" with buses transferring Main Street patrons and employees to Old Town. The buses are scheduled to run every 10 minutes, Bell said. All delivery trucks will be banned from Main Street during the construction, construc-tion, Bell said. All Main Street deliveries will be made from Swede Alley. |