Elk Ridge Drive from 11200 South to Sky Hawk Way recently closed for road improvements and will stay closed until its estimated mid-June completion, Salem City announced Monday.

Drivers are advised to use detours from Goosenest Drive to Salem Canal Road or Woodland Hills Drive through Salem.

The construction marks the final stretch of a three-phase, $44 million Loafer Mountain Parkway project that was funded by the county. The first leg of the road was completed in 2023, and the second leg was finished last year.

Loafer Mountain Parkway becomes Elk Ridge Drive at 11200 South, but the road continues in the same direction for an additional block, before curving southwest after Sky Hawk Way.

Courtesy Salem City

According to Salem City, construction for the first block of Elk Ridge Drive was requested by Elk Ridge City to provide consistency along the roadway.

The plan, Utah County Communications Manager Richard Piatt said, is to add a formal intersection at 11200 South and Elk Ridge Drive and make enhancements to the road.

“They’re trying to do a complete job on it,” Piatt said. “That area is just going to continue developing. We tried to modernize it and do these improvements so that it can be a project that will carry us into the future.”

The construction crew removed all the road’s asphalt and will work to finish roadway excavation “over the next couple of days,” according to Salem City. Crews also began installing a new storm drain Monday and will later add a new water line.

Loafer Mountain Parkway was constructed to address the growth in south Utah County. The road begins at State Road 164 near Interstate 15 and goes approximately four miles south, where it becomes Elk Ridge Drive, a main roadway into Elk Ridge.

The parkway provides residents in Payson, Salem and Elk Ridge quicker access to the interstate and was also built to accommodate future growth in the area, Piatt said.

“We’re anticipating not only the need now, but the need in the future, because a lot of that area is going to be developing. When you look around, it’s a very interesting mix of rural and development there,” he said. “You’ve got vestiges of the past with cows grazing and pastures, but then you’ve got brand-new apartment complexes and neighborhoods that are going in there. So that’s kind of a little peek of the future and how the county is growing as well.”