High-friction pavement saves cars from sliding off dangerous road

LOGAN — The Utah Department of Transportation is testing an innovative pavement to make a dangerous curve in Logan Canyon safer for drivers.

The curve is sharp, and when the weather is bad, extremely slick. Dozens of cars have slid off the road in the area and into the river in recent years.

"A lot of vehicles come into the curve at high rates of speed," said UDOT Region One director Kris Peterson. "As they get to that tight corner they slide off."

UDOT installed a cable barrier last summer to prevent cars from sliding into the river. Colleen Larkin went into the water a year ago.

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New Roads Requiring More UDOT Maintenance Funding

By Lee Davidson | The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Feb 15 2013 11:02 am 

Recent completion of the massive widening and rebuilding of Interstate 15 in Utah County plus the first phase of the Mountain View Corridor in Salt Lake County may help speed traffic, but officials say they are creating an extra drain on already inadequate highway maintenance funds.

So the Legislature is considering increasing annual funding for road maintenance by 1.4 percent — adding an extra $4.56 million — to handle it. It is also looking at a one-time extra appropriation of $790,000 to buy snow removal and other equipment needed for the new extra-wide I-15 segment.

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Bill advances to make it tougher to sue Utah over roads

Over objections from defense attorneys who say it goes too far, a bill to make it more difficult to sue the state over poor road design or conditions that contribute to crashes was endorsed unanimously Tuesday by the Senate Transportation Committee.

The sponsor of SB50, Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said fiscal analysts figure the state could lose $1 million a year in lawsuits without the bill.

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