The Wallsburg to Charleston project on US-189 aims to increase road capacity and make the stretch from Deer Creek State Park’s Rainbow Bay area to state Route 113 safer.
The project would expand the road from two lanes to four, requiring some hillside excavation. It would include separate travel lanes by Deer Creek Reservoir around a dangerous bend. Project Manager Craig Hancock said the expansion would also require up to 15 feet from some private properties.
“There are areas where we will be affecting people's properties, all strip takes, but we're only widening to the bare minimum to the point where we meet our standards,” he said.
There are also plans to increase parking and access to Deer Creek State Park’s Island Beach area. An underpass would be added to connect the east and west sides and the boat launch area would be expanded. The project would also include wildlife fencing.
Charleston’s Town Hall was crowded with locals learning about and providing feedback on the project Wednesday night. Residents seem to agree US-189 safety changes are needed, but don’t agree with all aspects of the project.
Tori Broughton has lived in the area for over a year. She said she was happy to see wildlife was considered but said safety is still an issue.
“There's going to continue to be traffic issues in and out of the beach access if they aren't able to come up with a better on-ramp, off-ramp type of situation.”
Doug Robison has lived in Charleston for two years and also has concerns about beach access.
“I think this current proposal is not as good as what we actually have today,” he said. “As soon as you straighten out the road and give four lanes in that section, it's going to increase the speed of the traffic flow, which then makes it much more difficult to pull in and out of the park.”
Don Sant said he’s a fan of the lane separation around a blind corner to reduce accidents.
“I've had people trying to turn their boats around right here because they missed their intersection back here to get off to the lake," he said. "They'll stop like it's just some country road, and coming up right behind them at 60 miles an hour is a big 18-wheeler.”
However, Sant doesn’t like that the project will impact private property. He has neighbors in Charleston who will have part of their property taken by the road expansion.
Jonathan Wagstaff has lived in the Heber area for 47 years. He said he’s in favor of the four-lane expansion but said the project won’t fit the needs of a growing Wasatch County.
“We feel like we have one shot to get this done and to do it right. And if we do it now, we can plan and prepare for that in the future and the growth," Wagstaff said. "If we keep it the status quo, that road will remain there and be the same for the next 40 years, which will be underutilized, undermanaged.”
His submitted recommendations for UDOT include moving the road east about 120 feet to create more parking and adding an underpass, acceleration and deceleration lanes.
However, UDOT said the recommendations are too expensive. Wagstaff said the project is already too pricy because it was budgeted five years ago and the costs of construction have tripled. The first phase of the project from Charleston to Deer Creek State Park has been funded and will cost $53 million. The second phase of the project from Deer Creek State Park to Rainbow Bay has not been funded but is expected to cost $97 million.
The public comment period for the project is open until Feb. 15.
