Show work commenced on spectacular highway work commenced a few ew days ago on oil what is to be probably tile mos most spectacular highway in the united states the zion national park mt aft carmel road in this connection an article written by E T superintendent erin ot of zion national park and published in the garfield Gartl eld county news Is very interesting we re reproduce produce it herewith as follows to enable bryce canyon national monument to become a national pk park then to bind lit together with zion national park and the north rim of cf grand canyon national park dark as one unit in a great scenic loop is the ol 01 object of the new road to be constructed in zion national park at a cost of over a millon dollars and which will be completed only alter after two years of 0 work I 1 the first section of 0 the project is now under way in considering this unusual job of road building it will be best beat to start with alon canyon itself this halt mile wide valley with colored sandstone cliffs rising almost sheer tor for an average of 0 three thousand feet above its floor was referred to by native indiana in southern utah as I oo goon they also applied the name to the little bag or box in which they carried their arrows or a quiver arwe as we would call it to anyone who has never visited zion canyon the reason tor for the name may not be apparent but to those who have it need only be recalled that you came out the same way you went in entering the wide mouth of the canyon above the little village of rock ville the walls gradually crowd in as the traveler proceeds up the valley floor at the checking station at the park entrance the walls are barely a halt half mile apart seven miles above thas point the road ends and I 1 from rom here you may walk an additional mile to the narrows where the perpendicular walls walla come to the very edge of the river here you must turn back pioneers build baia trails since the advent of the white man in this section the sides of tho the quiver lave have been punctured at three places the national park service has haa built tine fine trails up over the walls walla to both the east and west rims slid and everything from pins to steam boilers have been taken up over the old cable way built by the mormon pioneers it Is possible that the old indians expect the white interloper to eventually meet disaster tor for his bis temerity in making these developments in what he considers the abiding 1 place of the great spirit but lie he has bag never express sed himself however the methods of getting up over the cliffs do not tit fit into our modern age and the paleface pale f face ace now I 1 proposes to build a road out of I 1 oo 00 goon so that the thousands of motorists may have easy access to other wonders in the same section of the country the indian indan may find what satisfaction he can in the tact fact that even if ft the road Is built the canyon will still be I oo goon because the only route out will be very near the mouth of the canyon and those who drive up the main gorge to the temple tempie of ava must still retrace their steps seven miles before they can go anywhere else road presents problem the construction of the road itself is an engineering problem of the first magnitude dr L 1 I hewes deputy chief eng lineer ot of the united states bureau of public roads in charge ot of road construction in ladonal na Jonal parks in eleven western states has defered to it as the tha biggest single job the bureau has evir ever undertaken As Is the case with all stream eroded canyons the pine creek gorge soon narrows down and findly there is room between the walls walla for only the creek itself due to this fact a total ot of feet 0 of the section in ili the park wll WEI be in solid rock tunnel a most unusual feature from the standpoint ot of highway construction although the tunnel be continuous after it is once entered galleries will be broken out along the tace face of 0 the cliff tor for ventilation lichtl lighting ang and to serve as observation points the longest section between galleries wll be 1500 feet and all told there will be six such openings looking out from alese points the views will be sensational to say the least the observer will I 1 tind ind the massive bulk of east temple rising feet above the creek bed and dominating the entire landscape to the north while westerly the summit ot of west temple and the towers ot of the virgin stand in bold bod relief against the sky in the foreground will be seen the great arch of zion feet long feet beet high and 90 leet feet black b ck to the supporting wall four F our miles of zigzags Zig another striking feature from both an engineering and scenic standpoint will be the five great zigzags which will carry the roadway up over the talus slope to the foot of the cliff where it will enter the tunnel nearly tour four miles of roadway will be used in this section to make the necessary ee elevation in plans tor for the construction tor for the park section every precaution has baa been taken to protect the landscape features in order that tho the natural beauty of the area Ira traversed versed will not be destroyed no part of the road will be in the main zion canyon except the short section necessary to cross the valley and river to the t he mouth of the pine creek canyon so carefully has it been laid out that only a few hundred feet ot the new road will be visible from the present main road up the central gorge it if it were necessary to make bears upon tho the primal walls of zion the road I 1 would never be built in order to understand just ju st what W b the new road will accomplish fix I 1 ix in your mind the location of bryce canyon national monument edar Gedar breaks and grand canyon national park using zion as a central point As th the 0 crow fies tl es bryce Is about f if itty ty tour four miles northeasterly cedar 13 breaks Is north about thirty miles slid and tile grand canyan is south about ninety miles by road it ts Is now miles to bryce miles to cedar breaks and miles to grand canyon continued to back page WORK COMMENCED ON spectacular HIGHWAY continued from frt art page when the new roa road d Is built it will be 88 70 and respectively it will be no harder to make these distances than it is at present to drive around the famous Yellow yellowstone loop the new road will lave leave the present highway up zon at the checking station it strikes easterly up the tributary pine creek canyon and joins the present road between bryce and the north rim a tew few miles south of 0 the little settlement of mt lit carmel the total length ot of the project is twenty tour four miles of eight and one halt are in the park the section from the boundary to mt lit carmel will bg be built by the state of utah as a federal aid project and will cost about while the park section will total about prom from the above fact it may be seen that the new highway will not be tor for the benefit of a single park but will vill be an Inter park road of 0 the first magnitude however when road developments I 1 ii the southwest as a whole are taken into consideration it becomes even more than this thia ahe 1 I lie tom hlll ploton of the brid e at lees ferry across the colorado river will make it a section of 0 a great ar arterial arter teral tal highway running north and south be tween twee glacier national park on the canadian iane line and mexican boundary in southern arizona and having on ua its route the other wonderlands wonder lands of yellowstone bryce zion and grand canyon national parks including the north and south rims officials ot of the interior department of 0 which the national park service is a bureau are very anious to have the road authorized for completion within two years it if this should be the case bryce canyon will enter the family of 0 national parks the act setting aside this area passed three years ago but contained a provision that it would not become effective until all lauds within its boundaries had become property of the federal government the union pacific railroad and the state of utah have agreed to turn over their holdings it if the new highway is authorized tor for completion with in two years should this be the case bryce will automatically become a national park no one will deny the right of this wonder to take Us its place M n the system although not b built on a scale of granduer gran duer it is one of natures outstanding artistic achievements and probably her most sublime expression of pure beauty funds from park service funds for the construction ot of the highway will come from the national park dark road budget the work will be directed by the united states bureau of public roads when it is finally completed the road will stand as a monument to the results which can be accomplished through cooperation among federal government state authorities and private enterprise the government took over zion tion when it appeared that it might be a liability for many years the state has since under tak en and practically completed the task of building modern high wa ways ys through sparsely settled country to make it available to people from rom all parts darts ot of the world and the camps and lodges with the necessary transportation facilities were installed when their oper operation atlon as aa a successful business enterprise was some time in the future however the seeker for or the beautiful the majestic and the th sublime rn n nature has discovered discover ed a new wonderland and the constantly mounting tide of travel indr cates that no labor will be lost the new highway will belef benefit it all those who have some tUng in order that its completion will bo be assured |