By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Cars traveling at 55 mph on a county road and gravel-hauling trucks entering that same highway are an accident waiting to happen.
Sunroc, the company hauling gravel from their pit in north Juab County, would like a speed reduction at the area, said Lynn Ingram, interim county road superintendent.
"Just barely down the road," said Ingram, "the speed limit is 35 mph."
He said that Sunroc officials would like to have the speed signs changed to set the speed limit at 35 mph at the area where the merging trucks and the cars traveling along the road meet.
Sunroc has had a gravel pit just inside Utah County, barely across the county line, for sometime, said Byron Woodland, commission chairman.
"They are moving their operation just inside Juab County northeast of Rocky Ridge," Woodland said.
The truck traffic will come out on old U.S. 91, now a county road.
The road is a bit wider at the spot where the trucks will merge with traffic but the trucks could not get up to speed quickly enough to merge safely.
The shoulders of the road are not wide enough to allow for fully-loaded trucks to merge if they do not notice approaching traffic before attempting to pull onto the roadway.
"Let's have them improve the roads and widen them on both sides," said Rick Carlton, commissioner.
That would provide a pull out lane and a turn lane and would make the road even safer coupled with a speed reduction. A center turn lane would make moving the truck travel into the gravel pit safer for other vehicles on the road and a right exit lane would also improve safety.
Trucks are often coming onto the roadway traveling at no more than 15 mph, said Clinton Painter, commissioner.
At that point, said Ingram, they are merging onto a roadway with traffic traveling at a much higher speed, said Ingram. The belly-dump tractor trailer units are fully loaded as they leave the gravel pit.
Sunroc has been good to work with the county, Ingram said.
The crest at the top of the hill as the trucks and vehicles merge is also a significant factor to be considered, said Carlton.
The scales for the loads are actually located near the railroad tracks, said Ingram.
The trucks used to come out on Summit Ridge Road, he said. They would not do that with the move of the gravel pit. They would need to come out on Old 91.
Woodland commented that currently construction was an important economic driver and that Sunroc was in the business of transporting gravel which was enhancing the economy.
"What are your feelings about moving the speed governing signs?" he asked.
Ingram said he thought it was a good idea.
"We would move the reduced speed signs on the road to make the merge safer," said Ingram. "We are in the business of moving traffic safely."
"Our biggest concern is the safety of those using that road," said Carlton.
Commissioners approved the speed reduction for the roadway.
