Crews with the Utah Department of Transportation are starting work on 11 miles of highway between Mountain Green and Huntsville beginning this week and continuing through Mid-October.
UDOT advises motorists that work will begin on a pavement rehabilitation and safety project on State Route 167, the Trappers Loop Highway. Vic Saunders, the communications manager for UDOT, said one safety feature focuses on motorcyclists.
“We’re going to install a guardrail along that roadway that is motorcycle safe,” he said. “A lot of times with guardrails, what you have is a situation where a motorcycle will go down on the ground, it will slide underneath the guardrail and then the driver of the motorcycle is severely injured as the motorcycle goes through.”
The guardrail is designed to keep the motorcycle on the pavement, which is safer for the rider. According to Saunders the new guard rail is an idea from California and is the first of its kind here in Utah.
“It’s not something we want to do everywhere, but on this particular stretch of roadway it works very well,” he said.
Lanes will be open for commuters but Saunders says to expect congestion.
“We expect that motorists who go to the Ogden Valley from the Salt Lake area or from Ogden, or north, should consider using an alternate route such as the Ogden Canyon Highway,” he said.
Crews will be working on site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Night work is not anticipated on this project.
