Show Marriage of West and East Uintah County With the official opening and completion comple comple- tion of the Lapoint to Maeser road at t ribbon cutting ceremonies Thursday afternoon of last week a new closeness has been achieved in bringing the westside west west- side of the county closer to home The new road makes the less than minutes 15 away over a mile 60 an hour an-hour hour highway from the business center center cen ter of the county Now Vernal must extend the hand of fellowship and erase the barrier that has existed between the two geographical areas and become become become be come as one At the dedication ceremony It was stated this highway was needed 60 years ago That In the early days it took from six hours to all day of hard traveling from the westside to Vernal and when one arrived in Vernal they were done in from the rigors of the trip Vip Now the distance has been shortened shortened short short- ened to the of dreamed-of minimum 15 minutes The Maeser Lapoint-Maeser highway is unique unique uni uni- que in many respects First a natural resource peculiar to this area was used in the surfacing Natural asphalt sands mixed with gravel was used instead of the normal hot plant mix regularly used in road construction Even though the state Road Department and engineers engineers en en- were hesitant in using this new material the Uintah County Commissioners Commissioners Commis Commis- insisted that it be used on I this this' road Great savings gs and valuable much u hV l trial error research research- has been been ob ob- ob tamped in experimenting with the native asphalt material If this surface holds up as is expected other roads can be built with the material more smoothly and permanently requiring less maintenance maintenance maintenance main main- than other surfaces Secondly the Lapoint highway was financed by Uintah County participating ing with 24 per cent of the cost and the U. U S. S Bureau of Public Roads payIng paying pay- pay Ing big the balance Even though this added added add add- ed road expense was a drain on the Uintah County road funds necessitating an increase in the mill mW levy on property property property pro pro- perty taxes the County Commissioners Commission Commission- ers saw fit to take advantage of the opportunity In obtaining the Federal funds to Improve this vital artery Inthe in inthe inthe the county Thirdly the Lapoint highway was engineered engineered engineered en en- and designed by the local county surveyor and a local firm Uintah Uintah Uin Uin- tah Engineer Engineering g and Land Surveying Company Many words of praise have bave been expressed from high road officials on the efficient design and engineering on this particular road One even stated stated stated stat stat- ed it was the best they have seen All in all the Lapoint highway is a monument to the determination of Uintah Uintah Uin Uin- tah County leaders to step out and try something new The full value of good speed high-speed highways to the Vernal VerDal area area- will will-be lILt be proven by the future traffic patterns and frequent use this road will eventually eventually eventually even even- draw to the Vernal area |