Guest post by Sally Lindsay, Huntsville
We all know that driving The North Ogden Divide or Trappers
Loop in the winter presents special challenges. Closing the Canyon at 8 PM is
very dangerous to valley residents, especially our teenage children. Driving
from school activities over the North Ogden Divide at night in the winter is
extremely dangerous, especially during storms. Driving over Trapper’s
loop at night in the winter in potential whiteout conditions, presents the same
dangerous conditions. Drivers will face highway isolation, the very real
possibility of hitting a large animal, and accidents that might not be discovered
until who knows when. This is absolutely unacceptable and another solution
needs to be found.
We have all been co-operative about dealing with the canyon
closures. This does not induce a cooperative spirit. It smacks of not wanting
to pay for the extra people involved to keep the canyon open. It also smacks
of ‘poor homework’ done by all involved. The company had plenty of
time and did plenty of research. Conducting this project in the middle of
winter was an interesting choice at best. If they have discovered problems,
this is their problem and should not put residents in danger on top of
inconvenience.
Their contract contract I would assume was geared toward keeping the canyon open.....the work should go much faster if they close it off...but then of course "they" will say that now they need to pay the crews more because they are working in off hours....someone dropped the ball big time on this....we are not getting the whole story I can guarantee you that.....looks like another 30 to 40 minutes added to my commute in the evening...
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely frustrated with the public education and outreach from the contractor for this project. I've tried to help them understand that closures affect far more people than just those in the canyon, which seems to be their focus. When the decision was made by the contractor to close the canyon for a day a few weeks back, many stakeholders were not even consulted or notified,
ReplyDeleteThe pipeline project is taking place in the winter because its the only time the water carried through the pipeline is not necessary to meet the needs of Ogden City utility customers. The pipeline needs to be finished by June 1st in order to avoid water rationing. An important piece of equipment that was supposed to help the project move along quickly and with minimal disruption of the road service is failing with the conditions faced with the project.
Would moving the closure time back to 10 pm or some other time make it more manageable? I don't know what's possible, but I would be willing to try to find a better compromise and work with the constructors if you think it would help.
I'm as frustrated with the situation as I'm sure all of you are.
Amy, thanks for your input and continued support of Ogden Valley and her residents.
ReplyDeletePushing back the closure to 10 pm would definitely be a big help, not only for valley residents, but for others as well. Powder Mountain and Wolf Mountain both close at 9 pm, so a 10 pm closure would allow the skiers to get down the canyon. Later on weekends would also be beneficial - say 11 or 12 pm.
Thanks again for your consideration.
Smaatguy, would a 10 pm closure be more realistic?
ReplyDeleteWe also ave a problem with the closure staying open later is good for some but there are some girls in the Valley that need to be at Weber High at 5 am for Softball conditioning and going over the Pass at 5 am in a snowstorm is not a good choice.. Something better be done quick or there are going to be lots of Law Suits ahead for this company...
ReplyDelete10 is definitely better....also confused as to what work they are doing at night...staging materials has nothing to do with the open trench method....that would mean they are trenching during the day?....
ReplyDeleteCertainly 10 PM is better than 8; open earlier than 5 AM is preferable. But these changes only help those of us who are not driving across the these dangerous roads in the middle of the night. What about those who are?
ReplyDelete