Everyone in Provo agrees the bridge on 820 North over the Provo River needs to be replaced. It’s 64 years old and increasingly unsafe.
What community members and city officials don’t agree on, however, is how wide the new bridge should be. The current plans include the capacity for five lanes of traffic.
“We want to build something that will accommodate a 75-year life cycle of the bridge, that will provide enough travel lanes, active transportation,” said city traffic manager Vern Keeslar.
At first, he said, the bridge won’t use all five lanes. The extra room would be used for walkways and expanded bike lanes. Later on, the lane configuration can be changed to accommodate increased traffic needs.
But residents like Eric Chase feel the expanded bridge will just make vehicles go faster, regardless of the posted speed limit.
“People take their design cues from the road and go as fast as the road allows,” he said.
“I live just a block north and my kids go to school at Timpanogos Elementary. I probably cross the road on foot or by bike 20 or 30 times a week. And it's already kind of treacherous a lot of the time because people are going pretty fast.”
Even though the speed limit is 25 miles per hour, he said the current bridge was designed for speeds of 35-40 miles per hour, and that’s how fast people drive.
The issue goes beyond just a bridge replacement. It's about conflicting visions of Provo’s growth.
Five lanes would accommodate another much larger plan to expand all of 800 North, a local road that runs from the Brigham Young University campus and under I-15. That expansion is included in Provo City’s transportation master plan as well as the transportation plan for the Mountainland Association of Governments. Community members worry it will split up the neighborhood and make it unsafe for their children.
“There's kind of an assumption that expanding the roads and getting more traffic in is inevitable,” Chase said. “But I don't think it really is. I think that's a choice we are making. It's a value judgment whether or not we value, safety of our neighborhoods and livability and all those things. Or if we value getting as many cars through as fast as we can.”
Jacob Brooks also lives in the area with his family. He said it’s difficult to separate the idea of widening the bridge on 820 North from the plans to widen 800 North as a whole down the line.
“They're planning for the idea that you will come in with an interchange and widen the road, and they want a bridge that will accommodate that widening.”
Ultimately, Brooks said, what happens with the road “will determine whether or not we stay here. I'm not going to live on a road that my child already has to cross to get to school to increase the speed limit 10 to 15 mph.”
Beyond the widening, Brooks said there are parts of the bridge plan he likes. Those involve improving the nearby river trail and closing the low visibility roads next to the bridge where jogger Isabel Parr died in 2022.
Provo City is still seeking public comment on the bridge plans. They’re holding an open house about the design on June 6 at the Provo Recreation Center. Keeslar said he expects construction to begin next year.
