SYRACUSE — A group of Syracuse residents says putting the West Davis Corridor next to Bluff Road will ruin the historical significance of a road that has been around since the mid-1800s.
Earlier this year, the Utah Department of Transportation tweaked one of its two final alternatives for the proposed corridor, refining its Alternative B by moving it farther east in Syracuse, where it will run along a portion of Bluff Road.
The change has irked some Syracuse residents.
“We think the historic things in our city should be preserved,” said Marva Rampton, who represents Citizens for a Better Syracuse, a group that opposes the Bluff Road option for the corridor.
“That road has a lot of history tied to it, and if you build a highway through here, you ruin its historical value.”
According the Utah Department of Community and Culture, Bluff Road is the last remnant of the Old Emigrant Road that began in Salt Lake City and ended in City of Rocks, Idaho.
The road was heavily used by pioneers and other travelers because it connected to the California Trail, a 2,000-mile trail leading to the Pacific Ocean.
In the late 1800s, Joseph Bodily, a Mormon pioneer and one of Syracuse’s first residents, lived on Bluff Road in one of the city’s first homes.
The home still stands today at 1343 S. Bluff Road, although it has been remodeled and bears little resemblance to Bodily’s original structure.
According to works published by the late Syracuse historian Don Rentmeister, the road later became a vital link between Top of Utah communities and played an important role in the area’s settlement and growth.
On Sept. 9, 1989, a historical monument was dedicated to the road at 2500 S. Bluff Road in Syracuse.
UDOT Region One spokesman Vic Saunders said it’s important for residents to realize that Bluff Road itself won’t be touched if the state decides on Alternative B.
“We wouldn’t be changing Bluff Road,” he said. “The corridor would run adjacent to it.”
Saunders also said that when an environmental impact study is completed for the corridor, it will include a full review of historical impacts.
“As part of the EIS, we consider anything of historical value before we move forward,” he said. “So if anything in the area (of Bluff Road) did come up on our radar, we go through a whole process and all of those things have to be factored in before any final decision.”
Saunders said UDOT employs archeologists who will examine the area before any work is done.
“We try not to tread in areas that have any historical significance.”
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