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GARDEN CITY, Rich County — Officials from the Utah Department of Transportation on Thursday unveiled a new project they hope will help Garden City residents, visitors and businesses breathe a little easier.
A runaway truck escape ramp is now open on U.S. Highway 89 just west of the city, aiming to prevent any more damage after five different vehicles have rolled through the T-intersection at Bear Lake Boulevard, known as Raspberry Square, over the past two years. The first of those crashes, in October 2018, killed a truck driver and forced the city to tear down the sporting goods store he plowed into.
Another driver hit the Lighthouse Landing Gift Shop just weeks ago after running through the intersection with brakes that appeared to be on fire, according to witnesses. And in 2019, the intersection saw two wrecks within a week of each other.
Speaking to media on Thursday morning, Garden City Mayor Mike Leonhardt said the ramp has been "a long time coming."
"We're very grateful to see it finally finished and ready to be, hopefully, not used, but it's there if they need it," Leonhardt said.
Leonhardt said he thought the first accident in 2018 was a freak, random occurrence that wouldn't happen again. "To me, it was just one of those weird things that happened," he said. "And then when the second one rolled through, it was like, 'OK, you know what? We have a problem. We'd better start working on it now.'"
The city worked together with UDOT on a solution.
And while runaway truck ramps are nothing new in mountainous Utah, the Garden City ramp is the first of its kind in the state. According to a UDOT news release, the ramp uses a catch-net cable system that uses a series of cable nets to slow down and stop runaway trucks from Logan Canyon. UDOT project manager Thomas Roylance explained the system to reporters Thursday morning.
"It has a series of nets," Roylance said, "and these nets are connected to tape, to metal tape, that's spooled in canisters that's connected to the barrier. And when a truck enters this ramp, it'll hit the net, which will initiate the tape rolling out of the spools to slow the trucks down to a safe stop."
Roylance said it was "exciting to be part of" an "innovative" new project in Utah. "Ultimately, it was a ramp that cost less to build and took up less right-of-way, or less property," he said.
While Roylance said UDOT is working to make the area as safe as possible, he said safety is a "shared responsibility" and encouraged drivers to utilize the nearby brake-check area and use low gears while descending the steep grade into the city. "And if they find themselves having issues with their brakes," Roylance said, "please use that ramp."
The ramp is one of several projects UDOT hopes will improve traffic and safety in the popular tourist town. The agency is also widening U.S. 89 to add a center turn lane in areas, has plans to improve access to the Bear Lake Marina, and has installed a traffic light at Raspberry Square.
