Canyon Update: Ogden Canyon Closed Sunday Night

Ogden Canyon Waterline Project Alert:

Ogden Canyon will be closed to all traffic (except emergency vehicles) Sunday night, February 17, 2013, between the hours of 11pm and 5am.  During this hard closure, Ogden Canyon residents will only be able to enter or exit the canyon from the east.

The purpose of this closure is to stabilize an existing power pole in the construction zone.  In order to stabilize the pole, a backhoe must be stationed in the travel lane while the crews work to fix the issue.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

Best regards,

Jason M. Allen, P.E. Public Involvement
HORROCKS ENGINEERS

3544 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 11 | Ogden, Utah 84401

Yet another Ogden Canyon Update - Canyon to remain open Valentine's Night

Sorry for the many updates, but the situation is unfolding rapidly and here is the latest:

Ogden Canyon Waterline Weekly Update for the week of February 13, 2013:

The contractor has made great progress over the last few weeks, and has now moved back down to the mouth of the canyon to finish the final 600 foot segment of Phase 1.  Once this section is completed, the contractor will pressure test and chlorinate the first phase of the pipeline before putting it in to service.  Phase 2 construction should begin in the next 2 weeks.

In order to accommodate residents and businesses in Ogden Canyon and Ogden Valley, the contractor and Ogden City originally agreed to delay the night-time closure on Valentine’s Day to 11pm.  However, because of the progress that has been made over the past few weeks, the contractor and Ogden City have decided to suspend the nightly closure on Thursday, February 14, 2013, keeping SR-39 through Ogden Canyon open all night. 

We again want to recognize Whitaker Construction and Wasatch Barricade for the fantastic job that they are doing with construction and traffic control, respectively.  Their hard work and determination has helped keep the project moving forward and on schedule.

Drive safe, and have a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Best regards,

Jason M. Allen, P.E. Public Involvement
HORROCKS ENGINEERS

Summit Town Hall Meeting Tonight @ 6:30 PM

As mentioned previously, the Summit Team will be hosting a Town Hall meeting tonight to unveil their Plans for Powder Mountain in advance of their application for a Planned Residential Unit Development (PRUD) to Weber County.

Day: February 13, 2013
Time: 6:30pm
Location: 3900 N Wolf Creek Dr, Eden, UT (right past Harley & Bucks)

Attend the meeting, then return to the forum tonight to share your thoughts in the "comments" section.

Ogden Canyon Update: Hard Closure tonight @ 11 PM

Ogden Canyon Waterline Project Alert:

Ogden Canyon will be closed to all traffic (except emergency vehicles) tonight, February 13, 2013, between the hours of 11pm and 5am.  During this hard closure, Ogden Canyon residents will only be able to enter or exit the canyon from the east.

The purpose of this closure is to stabilize an existing power pole in the construction zone.  In order to stabilize the pole, a backhoe must be stationed in the travel lane while the crews work to fix the issue.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

Best regards,

Jason M. Allen, P.E. Public Involvement
HORROCKS ENGINEERS

Ogden Canyon Update - Canyon will close at 11 PM Valentines Night instead of 8 PM

Project Update:

In an effort to accommodate residents and businesses in Ogden Canyon and Ogden Valley, SR-39 in Ogden Canyon will close at 11pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013, instead of the scheduled 8pm closure.  Please drive safe and have a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Best regards,

Jason M. Allen, P.E. Public Involvement
HORROCKS ENGINEERS

Ogden Canyon Update

Dear Ogden Canyon Waterline Stakeholder Committee,

Whitaker Construction has made very good progress over the last week, thanks to some very cooperative weather.  Over the next two weeks, they are planning on finishing up the first phase and moving their operation up the canyon to the second phase.  They continue to remain on schedule for the projected June 1, 2013, completion date.

We have added a “Frequently Asked Questions” section to the project website, in order to help the public understand a little more about this project.  Feel free to read through the questions and answers that we have provided at: http://www.ogdencanyonh2o.com/ogdencanyonH2O/ocwlfaq.html

You can also follow the project on Twitter: @ogdencanyonh2o.

Best regards,

Jason M. Allen, P.E. Municipal Engineer
HORROCKS ENGINEERS

3544 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 11 | Ogden, Utah 84401

Summit To Host Townhall Meeting Regarding Their Planned Residential Unit Development (PRUD) Application

An open notice from The Summit Group

Dear friends and neighbors,

It's been an exciting few months and we're happy to announce that we'll be submitting our Planned Residential Unit Development application to the county at the end of February.

In an effort to keep the valley community informed and engaged we're happy to announce a town hall meeting on the PRUD application and Summit's plans for Powder Mountain. Please come join us, we're looking forward to offering an overview of the plan and addressing questions and comments.

Day: February 13, 2013
Time: 6:30pm
Location: 3900 N Wolf Creek Dr, Eden, UT (right past Harley & Bucks)

The Summit Group

More Ogden Canyon Frustrations - Ogden City Council Meeting Tonight

Guest Post by Kathy Peterson promoted from Facebook

Hi everyone-

Rich and I just came up the canyon on this Friday evening Feb. 2 at 5:30 pm and the traffic going down the canyon was backed up all the way to the Oaks. There was no lead car and there was no flagman. 

What are we supposed to do about getting up and down the canyon in a timely manner? Should we call the Ogden Police as this is a problem caused by Ogden city? We certainly shouldn't (as taxpayers of Weber County) have to pay the sheriff to come and take care of the problem. What is this doing to our ski industry when tourists have to try to maneuver this mess. 

And what about the lost business for those businesses in the canyon like the Oaks, Alaska Inn and Gray Cliff? The curfew on the week nights is ridiculous-8pm, really? And on the weekend, if you go to the early movie, you still can't make it to the canyon before the supposed closure at 10pm. The times should be 10pm on weeknights and 12 am on the weekends. Half the time there is no evidence of work being done overnight anyway, especially on the weekend.  Does the contractor close the canyon just so they don't have to pay someone to monitor the traffic overnight? 

I think we citizens of Ogden Valley deserve more courtesy and accommodation for our inconvenience. I for one will be at the Ogden City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 6 pm to ask these questions of the city council. Are they going to compensate the canyon businesses for lost revenue due to this project that benefits the citizens of Ogden only? And what about the dangers imposed to us when the canyon is closed and the roads are icy and snow-covered and we are forced to risk our lives to negotiate the North Ogden Divide or go all the way around to Trapper's Loop? 

During last week's storm, Rich had to negotiate the Divide where even in 4-wheel drive, he was slipping and sliding around every corner and trying to negotiate around cars that were at a standstill while he went to get help. Please join me at the City Council Meeting if you are ready to confront this situation and ask for some relief from those who have instigated this issue. 

Thanks, Kathy Peterson."

Councilperson Wicks Requests Canyon Closure Time Be Bumped To 10 PM

Guest Post from Amy Wicks

I made the request to bump the canyon closure times to 10 pm and the attached document is the response I received from the Ogden City utility manager who is one of the staff members assigned to oversee the project.

On a related note, I am making contact with Horrocks on Monday to discuss delays and travel times. I was stuck in Ogden Canyon for over an hour and a half headed home to Ogden from Snowbasin on Friday...as were many many others. I understand the snowy weather creates challenges, but cars were moving eastbound so I'm curious why there was no westbound movement. For almost an hour, It seemed as if the only westbound movement was from vehicles inching forward as others were giving up and turning around.

That type of delay is completely unacceptable and I will let you know what I am able to find out. I am also interested in hearing from others who have encountered problems traveling through Ogden Canyon so I can try to work through the issues with the construction company and make sure UDOT is aware of the problems as well, since they are the entity granting permission for closures and delays.

You are welcome to post this on your blog as an effort to help keep the public aware of what is going on.

Amy Wicks
Ogden City Council
At Large Seat C

Click here to read the response for the Ogden City Utility Manager

Another Ogden Canyon Update - Times for Closure Tweaked

Here is another update from Jason Allen, Horrocks Engineers

In an effort to accommodate weekend traffic, we have changed the closure schedule slightly.  The following are the updated closure times for SR-39 in Ogden Canyon.

Sunday night – Friday morning: 8pm – 5am

Friday night – Saturday morning: 10pm – 6am

Saturday night: no closure

Hopefully, this modification will lessen the impact to residents and businesses.  We recognize that visitors within the canyon are usually more frequent on Friday and Saturday evenings. 

As always, we want to thank you for your patience during this project.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.

Best regards,

Jason M. Allen, P.E. Public Involvement
HORROCKS ENGINEERS

3544 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 11 | Ogden, Utah 84401

Closing Canyon in the Evening Very Dangerous to Valley Residents

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.

Ogden Canyon to be fully closed during the evening hours.

We just received this disappointing news regarding the Ogden Canyon Waterline Project:

Due to some unforeseeable site conditions on the Ogden Canyon Waterline project, it will be necessary to use the open cut method of construction for the remainder of the project.   Open cut construction requires a much larger work area than the pipe bursting method, and much of the canyon is too narrow to construct the pipeline and keep traffic lanes open.  In meeting with the contractor, Ogden City, project engineers, and UDOT, it has been determined that the best course of action will be to maintain the current 10-15 minute delays during the day, and implement a full closure of SR-39 in Ogden Canyon during the night.  The closure hours will be as follows:

January 2, 2013 – March 31, 2013

Sunday night through Friday morning: 8pm – 5am

Friday night through Sunday morning: 9pm – 6am

April 1, 2013 – June 1, 2013

Sunday night through Friday morning: 9pm – 5am

Friday night through Sunday morning: 9pm – 6am

These night time closures will allow the contractor full use of the road to stage equipment and material, thus allowing the project to progress more quickly, increasing the likelihood that the project will be completed ahead of schedule.

As a condition of the closure, emergency vehicles and local traffic (Ogden Canyon Residents) will still be allowed to travel on SR-39 during the night time closures, though there will still be some delays at the construction zones. 

Over the next few days, a representative from Horrocks Engineers will be visiting the Ogden Canyon residents to discuss these closures, answer any questions the residents may have, and distribute identification cards to present to the traffic control flaggers during the night time closures.

We thank you for your continued patience during this project.  We apologize in advance for any inconvenience that this may cause.  We hope that you will help us in spreading the word to any potentially impacted people you may know.