Road receives extreme makeover
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By MITCH SHAW
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
Old 800 North bridge becomes new, improved at-grade crossing
CLINTON -- One of the main east-west routes entering Clearfield, West Point and Clinton has received a major facelift and is now open for travel.
The 55-foot-long bridge on 800 North that passed over a single vacated Denver & Rio Grande railroad line has been torn down and replaced with an at-grade crossing.
The original overpass was built by the Utah Department of Transportation in 1983 and was made of an open cribbing material, which started to erode in recent years.
Clinton and Clearfield now own the road jointly.
"It had been a problem for some time," said Clinton City Manager Dennis Cluff. "The cribbing was breaking and cracking, and it was just getting worse and worse as time went on."
The deterioration on the bridge never reached a point where it was considered a safety hazard, Cluff said, but with a few more years of use, it probably could have.
"It was still safe, but things were falling apart. The possibility of failure was there."
A city ordinance passed last year reduced the speed limit on the bridge from 30 mph to 20 mph and prohibited trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds.
"We tried to curtail some of the traffic," Cluff said. "We eliminated big buses and trucks and lowered the speed limit."
Clinton and Clearfield cities willhost a road-reopening ceremony at 10 a.m. today near the Clinton Cemetery.
"We are excited to show it off," said Clinton Mayor Mitch Adams. "The transformation has been amazing. It's one for the record books."
The new road will be heavily used and make travel more convenient, especially for residents of cities west of Clinton, like West Point and Hooper, Cluff said.
"It's going to be a tremendous benefit to the people of this area, especially to those out west. The people of West Point should be very happy."
Adams said 800 North's new design will not only make things more convenient, but also more safe.
"So many people use it, something had to be done."
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