UDOT to improve Logan Canyon road

GARDEN CITY — The Utah Department of Transportation faces a difficult task over the next two summers as it attempts to reconstruct seven dangerous miles of U.S. 89 without hurting the local economy.

Garden City and neighboring communities around Bear Lake rely heavily on tourism, and U.S. 89 is the most direct route for Wasatch Front vacationers heading to this summer resort area.

So, when state officials gathered here Thursday to launch the $21.5 million project — which will widen and partially realign the highway from the Logan Canyon Summit to Garden City — they were quick to insist that while the road will be closed for an hour at a time during some weekdays beginning in May, motorists should not stay away.

"We want visitors to know that everything is still open for business," UDOT public involvement coordinator Andrew Neff said. "There's lots of recreational opportunities up here with the lake — hiking, boarding, fishing, you name it, there's a lot to do, so we're working very hard to get that message out. . . .

"Here in a couple of years, when the project is complete, it will be easier and safer to drive through the canyon, so we're anticipating the benefits that will come as a result of this."

UDOT requires its contractor to keep one lane open in each direction from Friday at 3 p.m. through Sunday night. Weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., only one lane is likely to be open with flaggers directing traffic through the work zone. But no more than two one-mile segments of the construction zone will be restricted at the same time, Neff said.

The contractor also will attempt to avoid working at all on Fridays, Neff added.

Still, according to UDOT Region 1 director Cory Pope, motorists may find their speed hovering around 15 mph as they travel through the narrowed, unpaved work zone.

UDOT estimates the average delay will be about 15 minutes, except when crews are blasting through rocks. Blasting operations will close the highway for an hour at a time on weekdays, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Those closures will be announced in advance and that information — as well as details on other restrictions — will be posted on the project Web site at www.udot.utah.gov/logancanyon. Motorists also can call the project hotline, 1-866-644-US89, or send e-mail to logancanyon@utah.gov.

The work will take two construction seasons to complete and will include the following:

• U.S. 89 will be reconstructed and widened from the Bear Lake Summit to Garden City.