By Rebecca Dopp
Times-News Correspondent
Levan Town Mayor Bob Shepherd announced the road test
results concerning all roads in town, especially 1st South,
which is the road that comes down from the gypsum mine in
Chicken Creek Canyon, at council meeting Oct. 13.
Mayor Shepherd said that according to the 9th Edition of
the Asphalt Institute Thickness Design Manual, the roads
need at least 3 to 4 inches of asphalt to carry the heavy
loads from trucks, and that right now, Levan's roads are
only 1.5 inches thick.
He said that the town would have to build up the existing
roads if there were no weight limit restrictions. He said
that they would also have to have a better road base.
The council felt that these test results warranted the
weight limit restriction signs that the council had
previously put up on 1st South, but had been taken down
pending a road test. At a previous meeting, several
proponents of the mine were not in favor of the weight limit
restrictions and were very vocal about their opposition.
The mayor said that the town would be accommodating to
the trucking companies in certain cases&emdash;like flood or
bad snow drifts on the alternate route&emdash;that would
warrant the use of the town roads, but he felt that the town
had the right to regulate that usage.
"I haven't seen too many of them [trucks] going
up there [1st South]," said Shepherd. "They've been
doing a good job [using the alternate route]."
Shepherd expressed his concern for a much needed
acceleration lane on the state road for these haul trucks,
but he felt that it was UDOT's responsibility to provide
that, and not the town's or the county's responsibility.
"It's not so bad for them [the trucks] pulling
on, but when they pull off, someone could run into the back
of them," said Shepherd.
He also felt that it should be the trucking companies
responsibility to approach UDOT about the need for this lane
on the state road.
The council expressed their appreciation for the
alternate route and all the hard work the county had put in
to make it a nice road for the trucks to use.
|
