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Show it"- Salt Lake City Hearing ! Set on Winter Vehicles I Due to the amount of com-I ment it has received the Utah l State Road Commission has I scheduled a public hearing on a I proposed rule change that would expand the list of vehicles allowed to use certain snow-restricted canyon highways to Include vehicles equipped with four-wheel drive or Ure traction aids. The hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, in the Whitmore library Auditorium, 2197 East 7000 South, Salt Lake City. Since 19G8, Highway Department regulations have allowed the State Highway Director to designate certain canyon highways to be restricted during snow storms to use only by vehicles equipped with snow tires or chains. The "snow tires or chains" restrictions have largely been applied in ski resort canyons, such as Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons, Ogden Canyon, Logan Canyon and Pa rowan Canyon. The restriction periods have been relatively short, lasting only until highway maintenance crews have cleared the snow off the roads. In recent years, radial tires have gained popularity to the point where they are now offered as standard equipment on many new cars. However, radial tires offer a problem to their owners because conventional steel-link chains cannot be used on them. The chains damage the tire sidewalls. For that reason, new traction attachments have been developed for radial tires. Two such devices are "cable chains" and "snow treads." Cable chains consist of steel cables laced together and fastened to tires In the same manner as steel-link chains. Snow treads consist of plastic traction wedges strapped to tires with nylon belts. The proposal under consideration would expand the list "of vehicles allowed to use snow restricted canyon highways to include not only vehicles with snow tires and chains, but also vehicles with traction aids and four-wheel drive vehicles. State Highway Director Blaine Kay urges skiers and motorists who frequently use canyon areas during the winter months to attend the hearing and share their views regarding the proposed regulation change. |