SR-14 opens to daylight travel Saturday

Utah state Route 14, landslide repair east end, Cedar Canyon, Utah | Photo courtesy of Civil Air Patrol via UDOT Region Four

IRON COUNTY – Starting Saturday, Aug. 4, state Route 14 will be open during daylight hours, seven days a week. Use of SR-14 has been restricted since a section of road was destroyed in a landslide last year.

Though a large measure of access has been restored to the roadway, motorists are reminded that SR-14 is still an active construction zone, and asked to use caution as they travel.  Obey posted speed limits and watch for construction crew members.

At mile post 7.5-8.2, workers continue to address additional movement on the west end of the main slide area. Major excavation work is ongoing and is expected to be completed in the next two to three weeks.

Down the road at mile post 9.7, crews have finished installing tiebacks, placing rebar and installing forms at the tunnel and will be pouring concrete this week.

At mile post 17, workers continue to install piles for the new 200-foot-long soldier pile wall.

The roadway remains at one lane at mile post 9.7 and at mile post 17 with traffic signals in place to facilitate travel through the area.

Much of the work on the landslide is weather dependent. The construction team continually adjusts production rates and crew size to make up for lost time due to weather delays.

After the landslide destroyed a section of S.R. 14 between Cedar City and Cedar Breaks, designers determined rebuilding the road in the original location would require moving over a million yards of material, an expensive and time-consuming undertaking.

It was determined that by moving the road slightly north,  the amount of debris needed to be removed would be reduced, therefore reducing the time and cost of fixing the roadway and opening it to the public.

SR-14 is currently 82 percent restored.

Progress of SR-14’s restoration can be followed at UDOT’s Restore12 website.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2012, all rights reserved.

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