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Show Traffic and economic problems created by the closure of Vernal's Main Street and establishing new detour routes were discussed Friday noon by the Transportation Committee of the . Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce. Attending the meeting were John Keyes, project engineer, Utah Department of Transportation and Lee Hansen project superintendent for J.M. Sumsion & Sons, contractor for the Main Street job. Vernal City Manager, Shane Luck, gave a report on the project saying the curb and gutters, sidewalks, lighting, water and sewer lines would all be contracted out by Vernal City. The UDOT is responsible for the highway reconstruction and surfacing. Luck reported that the 8-inch water line on the north side of the street has been completed. A sewer line will now be constructed from East Main Street to the Halliburton oil service center. The beautification portion of the project will be last, said Luck. Two-foot brick strips with iron grates for trees, spaced next to the curb, will line the street from 1st East to 1st West. The sidewalk, and curb renewal will be done by the road contractor. All the curb along the south side of the street will be torn out in order to replace the irrigation ditch underneath. On the north side of the street only the curb and sidewalk that needs to be replaced will be torn up. The problems merchants were having by being blocked off and circumvented cir-cumvented by tourist travel were discussed at the chamber transportation tran-sportation meeting, also attended by many businessmen. The main business problem was reported to be the detouring of all traffic on U.S. 40 from 5th South to 5th East and from 10th to 7th West where no road construction is planned. It was also pointed out that the tourist traffic was bypassing Vernal by taking the south detour route through town because this route was designated as U.S. 40 detour and the North route was signed as a U-44 detour. It wassuggested that the 1st South and 1st North routes be equally designated as U.S. 40 detours. The problem of intersection traffic controls was another item of concern discussed at the transportation meeting. It was suggested that portable semaphores be brought in for the four intersections at Vernal Avenue and 5th West or that 3-way stops be made 4-way stops. In answer to some of the questions Mr. Keyes explained that it will cost $77,000 to set up the detour routes including in-cluding signs and maintenance. He said the cost of installing a portable semaphore signal is from $30,000 to $40,000 each because of the strict, specifications and regulations. Mr. Keyes said that to get any changes in the detour route designation and traffic controls would take the approval of the UDOT traffic engineers and the district director. Hal Duke, Dinosaurland Advertising president, reported that the summer tourist business in Vernal is worth several millions of dollars. One businessman reported that his formerly for-merly one to two thousand dollar per day business dropped last week to $125, $45 and $17 per day. City Manager Luck reported that the Main Street detour was not only an economic problem but that it was also a legal problem. If the state is liable for accidents because of the detour, the detour has to meet UDOT requirements. The chamber transportation committee com-mittee chairman Alvin Kay agreed that his committee would get in contact with the UDOT directors and see if improvements im-provements could be made in the detour designations. The immediancy of the detour problem was emphasized because of the July 4th holiday and the Dinosaur Round-Up rodeo next week. The rodeo parade route will use the 1st South route and the July 24th parade route will follow 1st North. The representative for Sumsion Construction, Lee Hansen, said that the project would be finished on schedule even if it meant going on double shifts. When asked why the contractor doesn't go on double shifts and get the job done sooner, Hansen said, the job was bid as a single shift job and it was economically impossible to double shift it now. ..... - s,-'- ma.-f--: --i -JP-Jt c , . .... ... JL. rv-v-A rr' ;. -u VERNAL'S MAIN STREET once a hussle-bussle busy thoroughfare now has a quite vacant feeling feel-ing and appearance. The road surface has been plowed up and the semaphore traffic lights removed. The intersection ahead is Vernal Avenue. |