Southern Utah is Changing Fast….. Major new multi million dollar projects are either underway or about to break ground across the region, including the largest construction project in St. George’s history, a massive new hospital expansion.
New housing developments are pegged across the St. George region, with more move-ins expected to join the already fast-growing local population in developments downtown, in the Little Valley and Washington Fields areas, near Tonaquint and Green Valley and elsewhere.
New commercial development is expected to give residents and visitors alike more places to stay, shop and recreate, with large-scale shopping centers moving in at places like the new Mall Drive Bridge in St. George and along south River Road, with multiple new hotels and permits taken for new buildings along Red Hills Parkway.
Real estate experts anticipate more of the same in 2017, with new commercial space in the works along south River Road, along State route 9, in the Sun River area and elsewhere.
In Cedar City, a new Deseret Industries is set to open this spring on Providence Center Drive. Other major commercial projects include a Sportsman’s Warehouse on south Main Street and a Ross Dress for Less also on south Main.
Lines of Transportation……A series of new projects are planned to both accommodate more vehicles and encourage more residents to use bikes, buses and other forms of transportation.
The Utah Department of Transportation is nearing completion of a mile-long road widening along Interstate 15 through St. George, including a new underpass near Mall Drive that should ease congestion at two nearby interchanges when it opens later this month. Once that is complete, the agency will turn its attention further south, with additional I-15 lanes scheduled to be built between the Dixie Drive and Bloomington freeway exits. The City of St. George is also looking to add lanes to ease congestion around the I-15 corridor, with a widening project scheduled to go in between 900 East and 1000 East along St. George Blvd to ease traffic along the nearby freeway interchange and intersection with River Road and Red Cliffs Drive.
New Schools and Education Buildings……A number of new schools buildings and other education facilities are expected this year as well. Construction continues on the new Dixie Applied Technology College building, a $45 million facility easily visible from much of St. George atop a black mesa west of the city center.
Dixie State University officials are hoping to earn state funding this year to move forward with a new health and human performance center and have additional plans for new student housing and parking facilities.
At Southern Utah University, officials plan to break ground this summer on a $17 million business building at the site of a parking lot adjacent to the Sharwan Smith Center along University Blvd.
Source: Spectrum
