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HUNTSVILLE -- A new concern for Weber County officials currently dealing with flooding. Saturated hillsides have caused one mountain road to break into pieces.
The old Snowbasin Road in Huntsville was supposed to open Wednesday, but now it could be weeks because of all the damage.
Weber County Roads superintendent Kelly Hipwell says in all the years the county has owned the road, it has never been as bad as it is now.
Every year we have a problem up there and it hasn't been that bad, but there has been so much moisture, so much water up there, the hillsides aren't very stable anyway, and this has just added to the problem, all this rain and moisture.
–Kelly Hipwell
Some of the most damaged areas of the road include a section near the Art Nord trailhead, which is about 5 miles from SR 39. The section of road is about 20 feet long and about 15 feet wide.
It has buckled and shifted, or dropped in some areas close to 8 feet. There are about six other areas similar to this one, maybe not quite as bad, but damaged enough to where it would be considered dangerous to drive on the road.
"Typically, those sink areas will drop 6 to 8 inches," Hipwell said. "They've dropped 4 to 8 feet this year."
Hipwell says the current condition of this road is a result of all the moisture.
"Every year we have a problem up there and it hasn't been that bad," he said, "but there has been so much moisture, so much water up there, the hillsides aren't very stable anyway, and this has just added to the problem, all this rain and moisture."
Along with several sinking sections of the road, there are also several mudslides in the area.
In one area close to Snowbasin Ski Resort, there was a 100-foot section next to the road that had slid toward the creek below. That section is now threatening to take a portion of the road with it.
Hipwell says with the road's condition and the potential for more slides, it is too dangerous to travel on Snowbasin Road at this time. He says within the next 7 to 10 days crews will start working to repair the problem areas, which will include putting drains along the hillside it to divert the water. But until everything is fixed, the road it will remain closed.
"We'd just assume people stay away from there, just the people who live up there go up and down the road," he said. "It is quite a hazard. The first big one you come to, it's 4 to 8 feet deep up there, and it moves on us every week."
Hipwell says crews are more focused on flooding that is happening on the west side of Weber County to fix the road right now. On Wednesday they had more flooding near 12th Street, about a mile from Snowbasin Road.
He says when they do finally get the time to fix Snowbasin Road, it will cost the county between $65,000 and $75,000.
Email:spark@ksl.com
