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Show I THE ZEPHYR DECEMBER 1990 PAGE 14 road was paved and completed. What wed problems, It could be years and years before the have though, Is another dirt road to be maintained by the county. Weve already spent a lot of engineering money on the road. Possibly, those If future needs dictate a road, then the engineering costs havent all been wasted. be of some value. Lets say that would engineering and planning already accomplished may Lets Immediately cut our costs and the be our contribution to the mineral Industry. now. The mineral Industry commitment Imposition of future costs and get out of this road can complete the road If It Is Indeed needed. Right now, there are better uses of our money. And contrary to some prevailing opinions, the acceptance of mineral lease money Is not "community begging. It Is rightfully ours through a taxation process levied upon the mineral Industry. Shall we return this money to them In the form of a road or use It for our urgent community Infrastructure needs as was Intended? Thats the question. around the bend by Ken Sleight Last summer, Ken Sleight contacted the Department of Public Safety regarding the Highway Patrols ability to adequately patrol the proposed Book Cliffs Highway, once It Is constructed. Below Is a reply from Commissioner D. Douglas Bodero. The Book Cliff Road lets get out of it Dear Mr. Sleight: The specter of a costly, presently unneeded, Book Cliffs road leading from Cisco toward Vernal Is still with us. We have now seen the effects of tying up scarce mineral lease monies In new roads that ought to be the responsibility of the State Highway Department That same money could be utilized for other projects such as for the construction of a new courthouse, health needs, education needs and a host of other urgent Infrastructure needs. During the last CIB meeting, the CIB refused to loan Grand County the necessary money to build a courthouse without a matching fund commitment We knew that the restrictions on money allocated to Grand County would come. A county cant generally tie up huge sums for new road building without suffering consequences of having less to spend elsewhere. The past comes back to haunt us too. Large amounts of mineral lease monies were spent on Garfield Countys Burr Trail. Much of that same funding could also have been spent on Grand County's Infrastructure needs, but wasnt Now Garfield County has far exceeded their allowable allocations (based upon mineral production). There Is a move afoot now not to penalize Garfield County for this excess amount; let other counties share the costs of the Burr Trail development also. This move would tend to cut Into Grand Countys future allocations. But the damage has been done. The money appropriated cant be spent In Grand County. Its already spent Past bad decisions are coming home to roost We are now faced with the vital decision. Shall we continue to build such roads as the Burr Trail and the Book Cliffs road usurping much of the available funds. Or shall we use that money as was Intended: to help pay for the critical needs In our towns to alleviate the effects of boom and bust conditions of the mineral Industry marketplace. During boom conditions, surely the mineral Industry could build their own roads, just as the tourist Industry at Lake Powell could have built the Burr Trail road. There are many higher priorities for these funds. How In the world can we continue to spend and spend on such new roads? Grand County must raise, the Impact Board says, another $3 million for the road. Where to get It? Representative David Adams Introduced a bill to gain a part of that amount In the last session of the Legislature. It went absolutely nowhere. And now that Mr. Adams has lost his past legislative leadership position, there will be no chance at all of convincing the Legislature to spend money on a new road when there are so many road needs on the Wasatch Front After all, the State Is about to ask for a whopping Increase In the road tax to Just maintain roads already built And so, If we want this road so bad, were going to have to raise our own county taxes to pay for It This Is In addition to the tax that has been proposed for the courthouse construction. I doubt that the Impact Board will change Its mind and pay the extra needed $3 million for the road. But perhaps If we abandoned the Idea of a Book Cliffs road, they would be more receptive of helping on the courthouse construction. Which Is more needed? Which will result In the least tax? Furthermore, the State Highway Commission has made no legal commitment to road If the road was completed by our funds. The papers have not even been the paving drawn up holding them to the commitment There Is absolutely no commitment verbally or In writing as to when the work would be accomplished. Because of state highway funding SEASONS GREETINGS FROM THE RIM CREW Old reply to your request for Information concerning how many troopers would be needed to patrol the proposed Vernal to Cisco highway and how many miles a trooper can service on rural roads, we do not have figures on what the average dally travel on this highway Is expected to be. However; I believe that In view of the fact we do not have sufficient manpower to adequately patrol all of the freeways and heavily traveled state highways, the new highway would probably only be patrolled to respond to accidents. As you are aware, the UHP does not now have the manpower to patrol many highways In your area. For example, Interstate 70 Is not patrolled on a regular basis from Thompson to the Colorado state line. All of the following State highways In your area are not patrolled regularly and the only time a patrol vehicle Is dispatched on them Is In answer to an emergency call or In response to an accident State Road 128 from Moab to Cisco; State Road 313 from S.R. 191 to Dead Horse Point; State Road 279 from Moab to the plant; State Road 46 from La Sal Junction to the Colorado line; State Road 21 1 from Church Rock to Canyonlands; State Road 95 from Blandlng to Hite Crossing; State Road 276 from Natural Bridges to Halls Crossing; State Road 261 from Mexican Hat to Natural Bridges; State Road 163 from Bluff to the Arizona line; State Road 191 from Bluff to the Arizona line; State Road 262 from Hatch Trading Post to the Colorado State line. As you can see, much of the States highways Just In your area are not now patrolled and this Is true throughout the rest of the State. The Highway Patrol has had to adopt a policy that we will not patrol any State highway which does not have an average dally traffic count of more than 3,000 vehicles. We also do not patrol any of our rural freeways or State highways on a regular basis from midnight to 6:00 a.m. throughout the State because of our limited manpower. In answer to your second question, Northwestern University, the recognized leader In the world on police traffic services, recommends that the following mlnlmums be maintained on highways In order to provide basic police services: Each ty trooper on a highway of an average dally traffic (ADT) of 3,000 to 4,999 can cover 60 miles; with an ADT of 5,000 to 9,000 they can cover 30 miles; with an ADT of 10,000 to 34,000 a trooper can cover 10 miles; and for 35,000 or more ADT they can cover 5 miles. Using this formula, the Utah Highway Patrol Is currently down more than 100 Held troopers. Because I am doing everything possible to Increase the UHP manpower to help take care of our current needs, It would now appear that getting additional troopers to patrol the Vernal to Cisco Highway would be a low priority. I sincerely hope this letter has addressed your questions and concerns. If there Is any way I can assist you, please feel free to let me know. In on-du- Sincerely, D. Douglad Bodero KllKSR.J Old CKARM6V.J. Old i VMM QUlzcd . ! Moabs Complete Outdoor Store 94 W. 1st No. 259-533- 3 |
