The Utah Department of Transportation is widening U.S. 189 from two lanes to four along Deer Creek Reservoir.
It’s blasting and excavating along the hillside this winter to make room.
UDOT regional spokesperson Wyatt Woolley said drivers can expect regular closures of all lanes in January and February.
“The blasting will likely happen around 10 a.m.,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Dec. 30. “We determined that was the best time of day – the least amount of morning traffic and stuff for people to get through.”
During those periods of blasting, all lanes will be closed between Charleston and Wallsburg. Each closure will last about an hour.
Work begins Wednesday, Jan. 7, and will last through February. The daily closures will be Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Woolley witnessed the first closure earlier this month and hopes the rest continue with minimal traffic disruption.
“When I was there and we did it, traffic moved freely right after we did it,” he said. “We were able to do it pretty quickly, so it wasn’t too bad. And even that weekend closure, that was six hours – I was worried about that one, but we only had one truck that we had to turn around.”
Because the hillside above the reservoir is full of solid rock, Woolley said UDOT expects to do one more overnight closure of the highway for additional blasting. The first extended closure was Dec. 20.
The project is expected to be finished by fall 2027.
For more information about the U.S. 189 construction, visit UDOT's project page.
In other UDOT news, the agency plans to publish a draft environmental impact statement for the Heber Valley bypass on Wednesday, Jan. 7. That document will identify UDOT’s preferred route for the future highway. Once the EIS is released, locals will have 60 days to share feedback.
