Saturday, December 30, 2017

Saving elk beside US 89

Here's a Heart Warming Story to end Year 2017.  Passersby on US 89 near Alpine, Wyoming stopped to become Good Samaritans and helped save a small herd of elk that had fallen through the ice of Palisades Reservoir.

Wyoming Game and Fish biologist Gary Fralick chalked up the successful rescue to the large contingent of people who stopped to help. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies, the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation and about 25 residents who were passing by assisted, Fralick said.

Here's the news article from "The Jackson Hole News & Guide"

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/local/passers-by-save-elk-from-icy-plunge/article_d6ee105a-88a8-503f-8da0-e3bdce71c9cb.html

An here's a Facebook video from Dusty Jones of Alpine.

https://www.facebook.com/dusty.jones.5682/videos/1553880444726097/

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

UDOT to expand US 89 in Davis County

Yesteryear's US 89 long ago lost its bucolic, rural character in Utah's Davis County between Farmington and South Weber.  However, local residents opposed UDOT's plans to further widen US 89.   The comment period ended in late September and few observers thought UDOT would scale back the $275-million project slated to get underway in 2019.  Plans entail adding a third travel lane in each direction and turning the nine-mile U.S. 89 section into a limited-access, freeway-like roadway.  The impacted section passes through parts of Farmington, Fruit Heights, Kaysville, Layton and South Weber.

The news article below contains many other links to learn about the project.

http://www.standard.net/Transportation/2017/09/11/U-S-89-upgrade-plans-though-worrisome-to-some-won-t-likely-be-stalled-many-say

Below is a clip from a 1940 Shell Utah road map showing how US 89 was configured back then.