Canyon highway east of Cedar City reopens after landslide

Published: Monday, Jan. 12, 2009 4:13 p.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 

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

Recent comments

Excellent job UDOT!

Jeff | Jan. 12, 2009 at 5:23 p.m.

This Landslide happens once every 10 years. Everytime I drive past...

Once Again..... | Jan. 12, 2009 at 4:22 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

Since this article is about Utah I will comment on them instead of BYU, like...

Utah vs. Cal - Utah. BYU vs. OSU - OSU by a mile.

This is a joke, right? It's a shame both teams don't get a chance to...

TX looked horrible vs NE. If only NE had a kicker with enough talent to keep...

Cougars going back to Vegas

At least this year it is against a good team so when BYU loses it won't be so...

The number 15 Cougars won't be 15 after they play Oregon State.

i actually hate winter driving ESPECIALLY in utah when the snowstorms come...

Cougars going back to Vegas

The Vegas Bowl again? BYU needs a change and so does the Bowl Committee....

TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl

BCS Motto: If you can't beat em don't play em. Their only problem is that it...

TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl

Says the poor sport whose team (no matter who that is) hasn't accomplished...

Advertisements