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Show Hurdle cleared for U. S. 40 job The mayor of Naples and Uintah County Commissioners are optimistic about their proposal to widen U.S. 40 since earlier right-of-way problems appear ap-pear resolved. The next hurdle will be the Utah legislature, they say. Mayor Lawrence Kay and Commissioner Commis-sioner Neal Domgaard say the projectturn pro-jectturn lane, parking lanes and all -will be squeezed into a 100-foot right-of-way. The city council asked that property ow ners along the westside of the route give 10 feet of right-of-way in exchange or curb and gutter. But the idea died v. hen nearly all the property owners opposed. Uintah County is sponsoring the project, pro-ject, which will widen the route for about three and a half miles from where the highway narrows to two lanes at about 1000 East. Domgaard said the county will try to get the legislature to approve $3 million for the project. The commissioners originally planned plann-ed to go to the state Community Development Impact Board for the funds, with the Utah Department of Transportation paying back the loan. However, that would mean the state is borrowing its own money, said Domgaard. The legislature withheld S12 million of S37.5 million given to Utah as the state's share of White River Shale Oil Corp. lease payments to the federal government. Domgaard said he received a favorable response to the proposal Tuesday meeting with a Utah Transportation Commission member in Salt Lake City. He expected the full commission to endorse the plan at its regular meeting Friday. "Basically, we're going to stay within the right-of-way," said Mayor Kay. The 100-foot right-of-way allows for a 14-foot-wide turn lane, 12-foot travel lanes, 10-foot parking lanes and curb and gutter, he said. Mayor Kay said some property owners on the east side of the route will be asked for a slope easement, which means their property would be sloped to the level of the highway in low spots. About 50 of the westside property owners attended a public hearing held by the city council and all but two opposed op-posed the granting of 10 feet of right-of-way. A common complaint was that buildings would have to be moved. One property owner said he already had curb and gutter, which is normally paid for through a special tax assessment district. "We plan to ask the impact board for $300,000 for engineering to be done by spring so we can award the contract," said Domgaard. The Utah DOT has a project pending to resurface U.S. 40 from 1000 East to Jensen. |
