CIB Awards Funds for Road Projects

By Sun Advocate

Three Carbon County road improvement projects got the last needed boost from the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board on Jan. 3.
In all, the county will receive $3 million in grants and zero interest loans from the CIB. The funding will allow the replacement and widening of two bridges on north Carbonville Road, widening 1500 West and adding storm drains and installing storm drainage systems on 2000 West in Spring Glen.
“We had a really good day at the CIB,” said Commissioner Bill Krompel on Monday.
The project on Carbonville Road is expected to be started around Jan.18.
Krompel said the CIB not only provided funds for the replacement of the bridges, but suspended its normal rules to free up the $600,000 immediately.
“We were under the gun with the canal bridge because it has to be finished before April 1 when the water is released,” indicated Krompel.
The CIB’s move to free up the money was lauded by Commissioner Mike Milovich.
“This will enable the Carbon County Building Authority to get started immediately,” said Milovich in a Jan. 4 press release. ” The project will improve public safety and extend the life of our roads.”
Residents should be aware that once the construction commences, there will be some rerouting and some delays in the area, Krompel said.
“We will try hard to minimize the delays,” said Krompel, stating the county will provide flaggers and an alternate route.
Lehi-based Gerber Construc tion was the low bidder on the bridge projects and awarded the project replacing the two bridges which are quite old and deteriorating.
Both of the original bridges will be demolished and replaced with prefabricated steel and concrete structures, explained Krompel.
While the canal bridge has a tight deadline, Gerber will have a little longer to finish the wash bridge.
In addition to being new and stronger, the two bridges will be 50 feet wide, which is double the size of the originals.
Krompel said the bigger structures are tied in with the future widening of the roadway from two travel lanes to three lanes.
In addition to widening the plans for that north end stretch of Carbonville Road include putting in curb and gutter like that which already exists at the south end.
“For us to move forward with the roadway work we had to replace the bridges first,” Krompel said.
According to the commissioner Carbonville is the most heavily traveled road in the county’s system handling approximately 5,000 vehicles a day and the county has been gearing up to improve it for quite some time.
“All the utilities have been moved and the environmental design review has been completed,” Krompel said.
Carbonville will also benefit when another $600,000 is used to improve drainage on 1500 West. The area has historically been inundated with flooding problems.
The county plans to widen the road and add storm drains, Krompel said.
Spring Glen residents who have been vexed by their own flooding problems will also be granted relief via the CIB recent funding decisions.
With a grant from the Carbon County Recreation and Transportation Special Service District added to the monies from the CIB, a $1.7 million improvement project on 2000 West can move forward, according to Krompel.
The CIB decision will likely come as good news to Spring Glen residents, many of whom attended a Nov. 12 open house to review the initial plans for the flood control project.
At the meeting, representatives from Richfield-based Jones & DeMille Engineering presented plans for several improvements to 2000 West.
The plans included widening the road by five to six feet on each side, adding roll curb and concrete gutters. And some residents were pleased when they learned that the overall plan may provide them with essentially a new driveway.
“The idea of these flood control projects is to get the water flowing into the Price Riverinstead of people’s houses,” said Krompel.
With the funding from the CIB assured, the county will be putting the Spring Glen project out to bid, according to Krompel.
At the Nov. 12 open house, the engineers projected that the work may likely start in the spring.
A separate funding decision by the CIB last Thursday benefited the City of Scofield which was awarded a $700,000 grant to replace a bridge on West Scofield Road.
“We were very pleased with the outcomes,” commented Krompel.
The state community impact board awards grants and low-interest loans to mostly rural communities impacted by mining and the extraction of oil and gas on federal land.