Won't this be fun?

The I-15 Core Project (otherwise known as 2.5 years of traffic nightmares for Utah County) is set to begin this month, and the yuckiest part is slated to be first:

The four-month work phase on the S-curve, which is between the University Parkway and Provo Center Street exits, will leave all three existing I-15 lanes open in both directions during the day as crews bring the freeway stretches up to current federal standards.

That doesn't sound so bad, does it? But then read the next paragraph.

Peak travel times may see as much as 30- to 60-minute delays through the S-curve area if people don't alter when and how they travel during the evening rush hour and other high-volume times, she said. Traffic delays on holiday weekends could be even longer if people don't look for other travel options this summer. Though UDOT's overall traffic volume reduction goal for the I-15 CORE project is 20 percent, for the S-curve construction work, transportation officials want to see one in three cars off that section of freeway during peak travel times.

In an earlier article, they were predicting 5-6 hour delays on the four major holidays during the construction (Memorial, Independence, Pioneer, and Labor Days). I have a very hard time wrapping my brain around that idea, because the entire S-curve could be walked in well less than an hour.

If motorists and employers don't make adjustments to their work schedules to compensate for the construction and use alternatives such as car pooling, mass transit, telecommuting or alternative routes, travel times in the S-curve could reach five to six hours during the four major summer holidays, Saturday afternoons and typical summer travel during the work period, Barnum said.

Won't that be fun?