UDOT commission meets in Castle Dale

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The Utah Department of Transportation Commission met in Castle Dale for their Sept. board meeting. Several local interested people and county as well as city officials addressed the commission on local concerns with transportation. The local area presentation was given by Nathan Lee as he described several projects in region 4 which includes, Beaver, Carbon, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sanpete, Sevier, Washington, Wayne and a small corner of Utah County on US-6 the boundary is close to the Tie Fork Rest Area.
Craig Johansen from Johansen and Tuttle addressed the commission on the Moore road. He said the entire corridor needs to be fenced. Some of the fencing has been done, but it needs to be completed along the entire corridor. Last winter there was a lot of snow on the desert and the cows wintering there gathered on the roadway because it was warm and the only place clear of snow. This caused the cows to bed down on the road and there were accidents there with the motorists unable to see the black cows on the black road until they were upon them. He said the fencing and cattle guards need to be completed and he estimates it will take $1 million to finish the project.
Commissioner Bevan Wilson said the Moore Road paving project has been a great service to connect the county with I-70. Several out of the area people are using the road and it’s a great asset to the county and in connecting Green River to the western side of the county.
Johansen asked UDOT to change the sign at the Moore road take off which states there are no services available. He would like the sign to advertise what is available to travelers in Ferron and Emery and the other towns.
Brad Giles from the Castle Dale city council thanked UDOT for their help in cleaning coal off the bridge leading out of Castle Dale. “We are one of the few counties in the United States that doesn’t have a stop light.”
A survey has been completed but there isn’t enough traffic to warrant a stop light on Center and Main in Castle Dale. There have been several accidents at this intersection. The speed on SR-29 by the high school will not be reduced, but a turning lane from Orangeville will be added for turning onto Center Street off of SR-29. This will be a big step for safety as several accidents have occurred at that corner as well. Giles said the city will appreciate the continued help with clean-up of coal. There are 650 trucks traveling regularly over city and county roads which leads to wear and tear on roads and resources. Giles said Castle Dale would like the bridge out of town to become four lanes in the future as traffic is forced into two narrow lanes over the bridge and several accidents have taken place on the bridge. New decking is scheduled for the bridge, but the city would like to see a four lane bridge in the future. “We realize we are small in population, but we keep the lights going,” said Giles.
Sue Simmons from Clawson Town council said people are speeding through Clawson. Clawson Town would like to see the speed limit on the highway reduced. There are several places where roads lead off of SR-10 and it’s difficult for motorists turning into Clawson.
Several people from Moab addressed the commission about road projects in their area. One major problem they have is with drainage and run-off. A project they are calling the North Corridor gateway which includes bike trails has been delayed due to a short fall in the bridge project and $10 million was transferred from that project to the bridge. Moab residents would like to see the North Corridor gateway project go forward and they are working towards funding solutions for the project. UDOT let them know the project isn’t dead, it’s just been delayed and will progress as funds become available and problems with drainage are worked through. The project may be scaled down from a complete redo project to rehabilitation of existing roads.
Kris Peterson reported on safety he said fatalities are down. He attributed the downward trend to roadway improvements, outreach programs on safety, working with law enforcement, help with survivability and a number of agencies making safety a priority.
The commission approved to help the Uintah Basin develop a public transit system.
The recreational trails program recommendations for funding included the Huntington Canyon Trails project for a total of $50,665 and includes trails in Emery and Sanpete counties. The project will perform trail maintenance for two work seasons on non-motorized trails in Huntington Canyon. It will re-route .3 miles of trail and create a new 80′ x 40′ road base surfaced trailhead to serve the Jordan/Seely Canyon loop.
The local area update includes: rehabilitation projects on Main Streets in Castle Dale, Cleveland, Ferron and Huntington. Bridge deck repairs will take place on SR-10 in Castle Dale and SR-24 in Wayne County. There is also a Huntington infrastructure project which includes sidewalks.
The South Moore Cut-Off road is complete at a cost of $22 million. Goblin Valley State Park access road is complete at a cost of $ 7.9 million. The Green River State Park Access road project cost $500,000.
Other recent projects have included: Wide Hollow to Fremont Junction $10 million; Eagle Canyon Bridge $6.5 million; Moore Interchange to Sinbad $10 million. Top of Spotted Wolf $ 7.5 million; Between S.R. 24 and U.S. 6 $ 2 million; Quitchupah Hill Climbing Lane $3.8 million; Emery to Muddy Creek $7.6 million; Ferron to Rock Creek Bridge $4.3 million; Rock Creek $3.5 million; S.R. 10 and S.R. 31 Huntington $2.1 million; Horseshoe Dugway to Carbon County $9.7 million. Green River Business Loop $2.8 million; Horse Canyon Road Climbing and Rest Area $5 million. Passing lane by Woodside $5.4 million; South Price to Stake Farm Road $3.6 million; South Price to Ridge Road environmental assessment $1 million.
The following is a list of how much money has been spent on road projects in the past:
I-70 History
1994-1999 9 $ 48,127,553
2010-2013 13 $ 35,118,000
Total 74 $ 188 million
Years Projects Amount
2006-2009 31 $ 63,920,606
2000-2005 22 $ 40,587,756
I-70
US-6 History (Region 4)
1994-1999 3 $ 2,308,209
2010-2013 12 $ 32,761,074
Total 56 $ 197 million
Years Projects Amount
2006-2009 35 $ 153,050,794
2000-2005 6 $ 8,711,373
U.S. 6
SR-10 History
1994-1999 5 $ 4,740,479
2010-2013 14 $ 19,780,101
Total 46 $ 85 million
Years Projects Amount
2006-2009 12 $ 51,365,032
2000-2005 15 $ 9,133,361
S.R. 10