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SALT LAKE CITY -- It could be weeks before Utahns will be able to travel on some of the state's high mountain roads.
UDOT spokeswoman Tania Mashburn said some of the roads crews usually try to open by Memorial Day aren't likely to be opened until mid-to-late June.
"Some of our seasonal roads still have drifts of 15 to 20 feet of snow," Mashburn said.
The roads include Highway 65 from Salt Lake City to East Canyon, the Mirror Lake Highway, the Alpine Loop above American Fork and Cedar Breaks in southern Utah.
"Usually by the beginning of April or so is when we start to try to get in there and start to clear those roads," said Mashburn. "And just because we haven't been able to start yet, that's pushing it back further than we normally would like."
Even if UDOT went to the expense of clearing the roads, Mashburn said people wouldn't be able to get far off the roads. And there's another issue. "We are pretty late in the season to have snow in some of our main canyons, Big and Little Cottonwood canyons," she said. "And so we're really focusing on some of our snow removal budget to work on those."
UDOT hopes enough snow will have melted by mid-June to allow plows to begin cleaning up the roads.
Below is the complete list of Utah's seasonal roads
- SR-35 Wolf Creek Pass (Francis to Hanna, m.p. 12.44 to 27.51)
- SR-39 Monte Cristo (east of Ogden, m.p. 36.86 to 55.40)
- SR-65 East Canyon (northeast of Salt Lake City, m.p. 3.11 to 13.47)
- SR-92 American Fork Canyon/Alpine Loop, m.p. 12.63 to 22.40
- SR-148 Cedar Breaks (east of Cedar City, m.p. 0.15 to end)
- SR-150 Mirror Lake Highway (east of Kamas to Bear River Lodge, m.p. 14.70 to 48.63)
- SR-153 Mount Holly Junction (east of Beaver, m.p. 21.29 to 39.55)
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
