SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Transportation released a list of its top 10 construction projects for 2020 this week, but while officials hope COVID-19 won’t delay scheduling, they have no guarantees and are taking extra precautions.

“It’s a situation that evolves every day as it does across many professions and many different areas,” said John Gleason, UDOT public information officer. “I think we’d be naive to think that the COVID-19 situation would not impact our projects. To what extent? That still remains to be seen.”

Gleason said UDOT is tracking things closely and that its top priority is to keep the public and construction crews safe.

That means taking a “proactive approach” in all of UDOT’s projects, he said, noting crews will be wiping tools and disinfecting surfaces in vehicles, tracking worker health, holding morning meetings at a distance and incorporating social distancing guidelines. The agency also recently ordered protective masks for workers.

“We are pushing forward as much as we possibly can, and we are having great success so far, but at the same time this has been a situation that we’ve had to adapt to and will continue to be flexible and adapt,” Gleason said, pointing out that transportation is an essential service that needs to be maintained, even during a pandemic.

UDOT’s current and upcoming projects’ are expansive, with more than 220 construction projects statewide in progress or slated to begin this year, with a combined investment of almost $3.3 billion.

Gleason said Utah is seeing tremendous growth all across the state — the population adds the equivalent of a Taylorsville-sized city every year, which is why it’s important that UDOT “makes intelligent decisions for the future.”

“If we don’t take the time to properly plan and really imagine what we want to see here for the future, then the growth is going to dictate it for us,” he said.

Grid View Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Construction crews work on a new I-15 northbound travel lane, which runs from Bangerter Highway to 9400 South, in Draper on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Recognizing this, UDOT Executive Director Carlos Braceras said it is important operations continue during the pandemic.

“Transportation is vital in providing essential goods and services during these uncertain times and will continue to be a major part of our economic recovery in the coming months,” Braceras said in a press release. “These construction jobs are deemed essential in order to keep Utah moving.”

Gleason said it is more important now than ever that Utah has a “strong transportation system” because so many people are relying on goods transported state to state.

“While so many of us we hope are staying home, there are still those people out there that are doing what they have to do to support the state and the country and just making sure we can still somewhat go on — not normally, but still exist,” Gleason said.

At the top of UDOT’s list of top 10 projects for 2020 is a reconstruction and widening of U.S. 89 between Farmington and I-84, which began in February and is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Gleason said the project, which was selected based on regional significance, level of community interest and benefit to Utahns, will also improve local connections and enhance interchanges.

Top 10 road projects: