Next week, county councilors from Summit and Wasatch counties will discuss possible solutions to problems related to 200 South, a road between Kamas and Jordanelle Reservoir along the border of the two jurisdictions.
The public road that provides access for construction equipment and trucks to the Tuhaye development on the Wasatch County side has drawn complaints from Summit County residents who have reported speeding, air pollution, diesel exhaust and, as Summit County Councilman Christopher Robinson put it at a June meeting, “a general disruption to their usual, peaceful way of life.”
A staff report discussed at the meeting revealed that Wasatch County staff had allowed Tuhaye to use the road as the primary access to the construction site without the knowledge of neighbors in Summit County.
A study conducted by Summit County between April 30 and May 3 counted more than 2,600 vehicles on the road. The results showed that about 600 of these were large trucks and that over half of the traffic observed was not obeying the 35 mph speed limit.
The Summit County Council seriously considered restricting access to the road for emergency responders by installing a crash barrier.
The section of the road in Wasatch County is paved. In Summit County it is gravel.
Wasatch County Manager Dustin Grabau said the meeting served a second purpose for Summit County – they hope to have more joint meetings – and that is to introduce some of the newer members of the Wasatch County Council.
“I don’t know if we’ve had a meeting with Summit County since you three have been on the council,” Grabau said, speaking to council members Erik Rowland, Luke Searle and Karl McMillan. “Not in the last two years.”
The meeting is not about concrete measures, but rather aims to provide an opportunity for the two government groups to discuss possible solutions to problems related to the adjacent road.
“I think that’s basically the point of the meeting, to lay out the situation and talk about what Summit County wants to do,” Grabau said.
He said the meeting will be held at the Sheldon Richens Building in Park City. The council, he added, has the option of sending out a public notice that it intends to attend the meeting with a full quorum or with just a subcommittee with three representatives from Wasatch County.
Grabau said developers on the Wasatch County side of the trail have already spoken with Summit County councilors about possible measures that could help address some of the community’s concerns.
“I think we should probably all attend the meeting because we are going to run into some issues in the future that require action,” said Councilman Steve Ferrill.
