HANNA, Duchesne County — After seven years of construction, the Wolf Creek Pass project, which traverses a rugged mountain pass through west Duchesne County and east Summit County, is likely to be finished next summer.
The final phase of the $30 million federal road project, designed to transform the rugged and narrow dirt road into a year-round highway, will begin in mid-June, said Norm Merrill, project engineer for the Federal Highway Administration.
The agency will award the project's final contract for approximately $8 million to apparent low bidder W.W. Clyde, a Springville construction firm. The job isn't expected to be completed until next summer, said Merrill.
The last phase, in an area where the road crosses private land, includes excavation, grading, surfacing the road for the last five miles, installing culverts, erecting retaining walls to minimize impacts to streams and cutting slopes in rocks.
"There's a piece of the road that goes through some outcrops, and they will have to do some work to stabilize those rock sections," reported Kim Martin, forest engineer for the Uinta National Forest.
Work begins at the start of the east boundary of the Uinta National Forest and proceeds down to the Stockmore Guard Station. The town of Hanna is working cooperatively with the Federal Highway Administration to install a needed water line for the community at the same time the road is being paved, rather than having the road paved and then torn up to install the line, said Martin.
Motorists using the road this summer can expect some slow travel due to the construction. Delays will not exceed one hour throughout the route, said Merrill.
Last summer, crews from Granite Construction laid gravel and asphalt along about 16 miles of road at a cost of about $4 million. The paving took place from the west side of the road near Nobletts in Summit County to the east side near the Forest Service boundary in Duchesne County.
When the road project is completed, it will provide a more direct and safer route for residents of Duchesne County's east side to travel to the Wasatch Front, while allowing Wasatch Front recreationists coming to Duchesne County easier access to hunting, fishing and camping.
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