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Show Brianhead Road Closed After Weekend Opening The Panguitch Lake Road between the Garfield County .line and Brian Head was closed again Tuesday following a brief re-opening over tne weekend. The most recent closure by the Utah Department of Transportation was made at the request of Cedar Breaks Superintendent Clay Alderson, according to Randy Lamoreaux, District Five Administrative manager. The latest move by Alderson appeared to have caught Burt Nichols, Brian Head Enterprises, Inc., by surprise. Nichols said that Alderson had signed a tentative agreement which allowed the reopening of the road until a permanent agreement had been reached on liability and maintenance, but Alderson said that any understanding about reopening the road had been only verbal. In question is a short section of road within the boundaries of Cedar Breaks National Monument which the National Park Service refuses to keep open during the winter months. Alderson said that no direct benefits accrue to Cedar Breaks by keeping the road open during the winter and that he is unable to commit any funding to the opening since funding is badly needed for summertime employees. He said he did not foresee any change in funding possibilities in the near future and that the NPS could not accept liability for injury or death on the sometimes dangerous section of road nor could it afford the costs of road repairs and maintenance. He said that if the road is to be kept open, it must be funded by some entity other than the NPS and liability accepted by others. Iron County had earlier submitted a proposed agreement to Nichols which had never been signed and which Nichols claimed as unrealistic. The NPS is developing a "Memorandum of Understanding" which it will negotiate with Iron County commissioners and the agreement between the NPS and the county officials would probably need (Continued on Page 2) Brianhe&cJ Road Closed (Continued from Page 1) to be compatible with that between the county and Nichols, Alderson said. Neither the NPS nor the county appears eager to accept liability in the situation and Nichols seems equally unwilling although all parties claim they want to reach an agreement. The short section of road can be covered quickly with blowing snow on windy days, presenting a suddenly dangerous condition. Some have compared the section of road through the monument with the section in Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, both of which are regularly used as through roads. In both, cases, however, the roads are state highways. Adding the road through Cedar Breaks to the state system might be the way to solve the problem many local people have suggested, with the last discussion occurring in 1980. "The state has done a first-rate job" of maintaining its portions of the road to Brian Head said Nichols. Both Iron County and Garfield county can benefit from the winter opening of the road, with Arizona skiers who come from Phoenix to Utah to ski having easy access to the Brian Head area and California skiers who come to Brian Head also having easy access to ice fishing at Panguitch Lake and wintertime scenery at Bryce Canyon National Park. Rumors of a scheduled meeting of all principals had not been confirmed at press time, but the Panguitch Lake Road was listed as an agenda item for the regular Iron County Commission meeting set for Thursday, March 8 in Parowan. |