Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Keith McCord ReportingUDOT is getting dozens of phone calls a day right now, with people asking the same question: Is the Mirror Lake Highway open yet? The answer is no, not quite.
You cannot drive all the way from Kamas to Evanston just yet, and at about milepost 34 you'll know why. Tyler Page's five-man UDOT crew is busy with giant snow blowers, throwing tons and tons of snow off each side of the highway.
It's taken about a week to clear 10-miles of deep, heavy snow and there's still another five-miles to go.
Tyler Page, UDOT Station Supervisor: "Sometimes we're lucky to get a mile a day, other times we can get up to three miles a day."
It may be in the 90's in the Salt Lake Valley, but up here at the 10-thousand foot level, it's 40-degrees cooler. Melting all that snow takes some time.
Nile Easton, UDOT Public Information Officer: "You know, we'd like to get it open every time by Memorial Day, but for the last couple of years that's been impossible because of the amount of snow we've been having."
During the drought years, getting the road cleared by Memorial Day was a bit easier. But the last two years, the road hasn't opened until mid-June.
Nile Easton: "Each year it's kind of a guessing game by UDOT as to when to start this removal project. Because they hope mother nature is done dumping snow. You know, it's almost self-defeating if we go up too soon, get it cleared, and then get another three feet of snow, then we have to do it again. So yeah, we pay attention to the weather."
In fact, last weekend, six-inches of snow fell up here.
Hiking and camping areas along the lower section of the highway are open, but up higher, lakes still haven't thawed completely yet.
So, if Highway 150 is one of your favorite outdoor getaway locations, hang on just a little bit a little longer.
Nile Easton: "Yeah, we're hoping to have it open by Wednesday of next week."
UDOT says this 15-to-20 mile snow clearing project costs about 10-thousand dollars every year, and those giant snow throwers get really lousy gas milage!
