A controversial limestone quarry proposed for Parleys Canyon has yet to win approval, but project developers have already won authorization from state highway officials to perform road upgrades across state land.
Preliminary construction on the road was to begin Thursday before objections raised by nearby residents prompted the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to insist Granite Construction pause the work.
Without informing neighboring property owners, the county or residents of nearby Mt. Aire, UDOT on Oct. 31 issued Granite an “encroachment permit” authorizing the firm and property owner Tree Farm LLC to fence off and widen the road that accesses the hillside and ravines proposed for I-80 South Quarry.
The plan would block access to land used by Mt. Aire Canyon homeowners to park their snow machines, potentially leaving them unable to access their cabins in winter.
The move upset Mt. Aire residents and property owners, who were neither informed nor consulted about Granite’s plans to close access to the dirt road that parallels the freeway’s eastbound lanes, according to resident Freddie Stromness.