Cottonwood Heights staff seek engineering contract to mill-and-overlay Highland Drive; council debates scope

City staff told the Cottonwood Heights City Council at its Feb. 3 work session that Resolution 2026‑10 would authorize Perkins Engineering to prepare bid documents for mill‑and‑overlay pavement preservation on Highland Drive and to evaluate limited stripe or center‑turn‑lane optimizations.

"So this is to do the road maintenance on Highland Drive," a public‑works staff member said, describing a mill‑and‑overlay treatment between Bridal Boulevard and La Cresta and the inclusion of possible ADA crosswalk improvements. Staff emphasized the contract does not fund widening: "It's not gonna be much, but just to maximize the road space that we have," the staff member said of any stripe adjustments.

Council members questioned whether authorizing engineering now would conflict with Phases 2 and 3 of the Highland Drive widening study. Councilmember Hyland and others said they were concerned about advancing work without coordinating with the multi‑phase project; staff replied the widening phases are tied to grant funding expected in four to five years and that delaying preservation now could require a much more expensive rebuild later. Staff also noted procurement timing — design and bidding this spring are important to secure competitive prices for summer work.

Some council members asked staff to remove the stripe optimization from the scope if the council was not comfortable including it; staff said that could be done. Councilmembers also asked for follow‑up information on exact lane widths, pinch points and whether modest re‑striping could be accomplished without additional asphalt.

No formal vote occurred at the work session. Resolution 2026‑10 remains scheduled for the council’s business meeting, where the council may decide to approve, amend, table or remove the item from the agenda.