SR-224 Bus Rapid Transit Construction Launches, Overnight Lane Reductions Begin

High Valley Transit contractor Stacy Witbeck narrowed SR-224 to a single travel lane in each direction between Canyons Resort Drive and Bear Hollow Drive starting April 1, kicking off a two-year construction campaign on a corridor that carries an estimated 5,000 commuters daily between Kimball Junction and Old Town Park City.

The reduction is active nightly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. During daytime hours, High Valley Transit says two lanes in each direction will be maintained whenever possible. Drivers should anticipate lane shifts, shoulder closures, and changing traffic patterns across the broader corridor, which stretches from Kimball Junction to Deer Valley Drive, as work advances through five planned segments over the spring and summer. Construction pauses on major summer holidays and shuts down entirely between December and March.

The Hwy. 224/Olympic Parkway bus stop is closed through Aug. 1, a four-month disruption for riders of the Electric Xpress/10 White route who depend on that connection. No alternate stop has been identified in the agency's public materials to replace it during the closure period.

What High Valley Transit has not publicly quantified is the expected delay when overnight lane reductions intersect with late-night resort traffic or when work sequences run long into the morning commute window. With five separate construction segments across SR-224 scheduled from April through November, the risk of schedule overlap grows as the season advances. High Valley Transit and the Utah Department of Transportation are also actively coordinating to avoid a scheduling collision with a separate UDOT pavement preservation project planned for 2027, which raises the question of whether decisions made now lock in construction sequencing that becomes difficult to unwind if either project falls behind.

On the accountability side, Stacy Witbeck was selected through a construction manager/general contractor delivery model that High Valley Transit has described as central to managing costs and schedule transparency. The Oakland-based firm brings a Utah project portfolio of more than 30 jobs totaling $3.3 billion, including the Ogden OGX Bus Rapid Transit line. The project reached 100% design before construction mobilized, which officials cited as a risk-reduction milestone. Maverick Gibbons is serving as Stacy Witbeck's project manager on the effort. The broader partnership includes the Federal Transit Administration, Summit County, Park City, and UDOT.

When finished in summer 2028, the system will add a dedicated transit lane in each direction along approximately 7.1 miles of SR-224. Six stations will serve the corridor between Olympic Parkway and Kearns Boulevard, with buses running every 10 to 15 minutes, seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight. From Kearns Boulevard into Old Town, service will operate in mixed traffic with two travel lanes per direction. The fleet will consist of ADA-accessible, zero-emission electric buses.

High Valley Transit is holding a public open house Tuesday, April 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Richins Building Auditorium in Kimball Junction. Project staff will present construction details, address questions about temporary closures, and outline what the phased work means for businesses and transit riders across Summit County.