by Corwin C » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:30 pm
I have to disagree with Mr. Henle about SR 14. There are many on this forum who have driven it and I think most would agree with me. Granted, it is a steep, high elevation, low volume, canyon road and should be respected, but I absolutely do not believe that it's a danger to anyone who "dares" drive upon it. I feel MUCH more comfortable on 14 than I do on the freeway in most cities. SR 14 is NOT a super highway and never will be. Mr. Henle states that he should have been warned about the road when he bought property on US 89. I'm sorry, but don't most people look and see what is around them before they buy real estate? I can imagine his reaction now, "What do ya mean it's 45 minutes to WalMart!" (an hour and 45 now without 14) It is incredibly scenic and beautiful year around but trying to hurry on it would be a fool's errand. I agree with him that there has been some issues in the recent past, and steps were being taken to stabilize the roadway and hillside, but they were too little, too late. You can see in the previously posted aerial pictures that the slope to the right has already been reshaped in an attempt to prevent exactly what happened. This is no small task as well because of the logistic, financial, environmental, and scenic issues that have to be resolved in order to do this type of work. ('nuff said ... I don't need to go there)
SR 14 will be repaired because not having it adds over an hour to people's commutes and for access to hospitals, grocery stores, shopping, (essentially everything), for significant portions of South Central Utah. The detour that the people are now taking is just as challenging as SR 14 is, if not more so. There are only 5 roads from the US 89 corridor to I-15 from I-70 to the Utah/Arizona border (about 120 miles.) SR 153 (dirt often rough & wash-boarded, seasonal road, over 10,000' elevation, low speed), SR 20 (good road, recently rebuilt, inconveniently situated for most people), SR 143 (very similar to SR 14, over 10,000' elevation, and currently composes a large portion of the detour around the slide), SR 14 (where the slide was), and SR 9 (toll road, limited traffic volume through Zion National Park, and also inconveniently situated for most people).
I hold no malice for Mr. Henle and wish him well, but it is really frustrating when people "move in" from the "big city" to enjoy our wonderful little communities, and the first thing that they try to do is make it more like where they came from. Go figure? SR 14 is a lifeline for many, the issues are/were well known, and it will be rebuilt taking into account and mitigating as many concerns as financially, environmentally, and physically possible. The final result may not be up to his standards, but I have a feeling that it never will be.
Corwin
If I am unwilling to stand up straight before the world and admit what I have accomplished during the day, without excuses, in complete and honest detail, then I can do better ...
and no one should be expected to accept anything less. -- myself
