Canyon highway east of Cedar City reopens after landslide

A week after a cliff face broke and caused a massive landslide outside of Cedar City, state Route 14 reopened Monday after crews worked around the clock to get the road clear.

The mountain pass located nearly 8 miles east of Cedar City was closed after the sandstone and limestone rocks tumbled to the ground, blocking close to 700 feet of the two-lane highway.

The highway reopened just after noon on Monday.

"There was some pretty big boulders they had to clear, but local maintenance crews shifted their schedules in order make the road ready as soon as possible," said Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Kitchen.

Original estimates were that it would take up to two weeks to have the road operating again.

"Initially the staff moved things with a bulldozer and loader, but they ended up having to blast six or seven large boulders in order to move them," Kitchen said.

The finishing touches came Monday morning as crews resurfaced the road with asphalt after they prepped the highway late Sunday night.

— Ethan Thomas