North Ogden Divide reopens after $1.98M upgrade, now has ‘much cleaner feel’
The North Ogden Divide, focus of a $1.98 million upgrade, closed for about a month for the work and reopened on July 8, 2020. It's shown here in this undated photo with the work nearly complete.
The North Ogden Divide, focus of a $1.98 million upgrade, closed for about a month for the work and reopened on July 8, 2020. It's shown here in this undated photo as the work progressed.
The North Ogden Divide, focus of a $1.98 million upgrade, closed for about a month for the work and reopened on July 8, 2020. It's shown here in this undated photo as the work progressed.
The North Ogden Divide, closed to traffic for about a month, is back in business.
The winding, mountainous roadway connecting North Ogden and the Ogden Valley received a $1.98 million upgrade — which, those who have traveled it say, has made a noticeable difference.
“Overall, it has a much cleaner feel,” said Zane Williams, who regularly uses the roadway and gave the revamped version a try both on Wednesday and Thursday. “We’re extremely glad to see it open.”
Photo supplied, Weber County
The North Ogden Divide, focus of a $1.98 million upgrade, closed for about a month for the work and reopened on July 8, 2020. It’s shown here in this undated photo as the work unfolded.
The road closed to traffic on June 8 and reopened on Wednesday afternoon. Among the improvements on the 4.5-mile stretch are the addition of numerous new sections of guardrail, to prevent cars from driving or falling off the side of the mountain, and wider shoulders in some areas. Moreover, four retaining walls were added to give the roadway better support, and 17 storm drains were installed to haul rainwater and melting snow from the roadway and shoulders. That should prevent against road deterioration, according to Tucker Weight, a Weber County engineer.
“It does feel wider, especially where the roadway was redone,” Weight said.
Weber County Commissioner Scott Jenkins took a spin on the roadway on Thursday and said the change was apparent. Though it’s still a two-lane road — one lane in each direction — the wider, clearer shoulders in some areas stood out. Drivers will probably most notice the new roadway section near Chicken Creek, closer to Liberty, Weight thinks.
“It gives you a feel of being much wider than it used to be,” Jenkins said. “It’s much friendlier to drivers. I was very happy with it.”
Some road sections received resurfacing, while the widening and clearing of shoulders on the inside section of the roadway should help address falling rocks.
“We did not install nets or anything for rockfall. We did try to make it wider as mentioned before so there is an area where rocks could fall and hopefully not get onto the road,” Weight said.
North Ogden Divide motorists may not be the only ones happy to see the roadway reopen. During the work, while the divide was closed, many used State Road 39 through Ogden Canyon to travel between the Ogden area and the Ogden Valley. Maureen Cornell, for one, noticed the difference. She lives in Syracuse but works at the Valley Market in Eden in the Ogden Valley and uses S.R. 39 for her commute.
“There’s just always a line of cars. You’re always traveling with a group of cars, whereas before you’d be going by yourself,” she said.
Now, with the reopening of the North Ogden Divide, the motorists who had shifted to S.R. 39 should go back to their normal routine, making for a quieter commute for Cornell.
A study of the North Ogden Divide commissioned by the county and publicly released last year identified $6.82 million in needed upgrades to the roadway, big and small. The current project didn’t address all the issues.
Granite Construction Co., headquartered in Watsonville, California, was the main contractor for the project.