MOAB — Semis, some of them oversized, carrying mining equipment, followed by recreation vehicles driven by vacationers, followed by sports-utility vehicles driven by thrill-seeking outdoor recreation enthusiasts, followed by sedans driven by tourists from all over the United States, and even the world.
Drivers with different destinations and agendas, all on a two-lane highway: That's how West Valley City resident James Henry describes the drive along U.S. 191, the section of road between I-70 and Moab. Henry, an avid 4x4 rider and mountain biker, travels to Moab about once a month.
Between 2001 and 2008, there were seven fatalities along the stretch, and Henry and other drivers will soon cruise along an updated U.S. 191, as the Utah Department of Transportation is spending $42.3 million on improvements this year and will spend another $9.3 million in the future.
UDOT is rebuilding the Colorado River Bridge of U.S. 191. The old bridge allowed one lane of traffic in each direction. The new bridge is actually composed of two bridges, one for two lanes of northbound traffic and one for two lanes of southbound traffic, said UDOT spokesman Kevin Kitchen.
The cost is $38 million. UDOT is trying to minimize impacts to water with fewer piers, and using a tension system involving cables, tendons and concrete blocks.
"The construction is all above the water," Kitchen said.
In 2009, UDOT found 8,585 vehicles a day crossed the Colorado River Bridge to and from Moab. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Interior estimated 1.5 million people visit the area's famous red rocks, which include the trails around Moab, the Colorado River, Arches and Canyonlands national parks, and Dead Horse Point State Park.
Additionally, the route is a freight corridor from the Four Corners area to Salt Lake City and Denver, and a third or more of the traffic are semis, Kitchen said.
UDOT is adding safety improvements along the corridor, including additional turn lanes, scenic "pullouts" off the main road, and evening the shoulder with the road, which helps drivers safely correct vehicles if they find themselves drifting off the road, Kitchen said. The cost is $2.3 million.
UDOT is spending another $2 million on pavement rehabilitation.
UDOT recently announced an additional $9.3 million to the area for future improvements that could begin as soon as next spring. UDOT shored up the money from projects with bids that ended up being higher than the actual costs, Kitchen said.
Since there will be four lanes of traffic on the bridge, UDOT would like to widen U.S. 191 to four lanes north and south of the bridge to help ease bottlenecks.
"We don't know exactly what we will and won't be able to build at this point," Kitchen said.
The improvements are welcomed by Henry, but he says that the biggest headache along his nearly four-hour drive to Moab is not U.S. 191 but U.S. 6.
"Between Spanish Fork and Price, that's the worst part," he said.
e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com
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