The bad news: Their chosen paths of recreation are along sections of the under-construction West Davis Highway, and officials say it is hindering construction progress. At the same time, authorities are stepping up efforts to curb incursions.

“Since the beginning of the project, we’ve had people coming into the work zone illegally,” Mitch Shaw, senior communications director for the Utah Department of Transportation, told the Standard-Examiner. “We’ve had people come in on ATVs, snowmobiles, in their cars, on their bicycles and walking as well. We have signs posted, but people continue to ignore them and come onto the project illegally.”

He said that it’s been a constant problem throughout the project.

“Trespassing has continued to be an ongoing issue for us on the West Davis project,” he said. “And it happens everywhere, from the southern end of the project in Centerville, all the way up to its normal terminus in West Point. It’s kind of hard to say how much it’s grown, but it’s consistently been a problem.”

Shaw said local law enforcement along the route have been the most active in enforcing trespassing rules.

“For a reference point, Kaysville Police Department responded to 23 cases of trespassing on the project in April alone,” he said. “That’s just one police department over one month. It’s safe to say we have hundreds of cases of trespassing. Many police departments first responded to individuals by giving them a warning, but it’s gotten to the point they are now handing out criminal trespassing citations.”

Officer Lexi Benson, spokesperson for the Kaysville Police Department, said everyone who has been coming into the West Davis work area has been ignoring several warning signs and barriers.

“There are multiple signs before entering into the West Davis Corridor that say, ‘Road Closed,’ ‘No Trespassing,’ ‘Do Not Pass,'” she said. “But we are having a huge issue with people going out there anyways. We still have people who pull their cars out on the road and it’s making it very difficult for workers to finish the road and causing a lot of damage to the extent they’ve asked us to charge everybody that is now going onto the road.”

According to Shaw, the incursions on the project grounds have had a negative impact on construction.

“Particularly during the winter, when the ground was wet,” he said. “We had people come on the project with ATVs, snowmobiles, cars, etc., and that tore up some of the roadway grade, causing us to have to do some work over.”

He said that he’s seen trespassing on other projects, but not on the scale experienced along West Davis.

In Kaysville last week, the City Council took action, passing a zero-tolerance ordinance which has also been posted on the Kaysville Police Department Facebook page.

“It shall be unlawful for a person, other than those authorized by UDOT, to walk or operate a human-powered vehicle on property intended to be used as the West Davis Corridor or any improvements associated therewith.

“Unless subsequently extended by appropriate action, the terms of this code section shall sunset and expire when UDOT opens the Kaysville section of the West Davis Corridor to public vehicular traffic.

“A violation of this section shall be an infraction.”

In spite of its recent implementation, Benson said there have been several incursions in the past week.

Shaw said the message is simple: Unless you have official business related to the highway’s completion, stay away.

“The message is please stay out of the construction zone,” he said. “Not only can it hinder progress on our project and cost money, more importantly, it’s dangerous. This is an active work zone with heavy machinery operating, and even when our crews are off, there’s still potential for danger. Again, this is an active work site and the general public is not allowed to be on it.”

The 16-mile West Davis Highway project is anticipated to finish in 2024.

Project updates

Antelope Drive in Syracuse between 3000 West and 2500 West will soon close to all traffic for work on the West Davis project.

The seven-week closure will begin Monday and is expected to last through Aug. 15. Detours will be in place to direct motorists north to 700 South.

Meantime, an ongoing closure of 3000 West between Antelope Drive and 2025 South was expected to end Friday.

For additional project details, visit https://westdavis.udot.utah.gov/.