Scenic Hwy SR 14 Will Reopen In June

Crews are making steady progress in rebuilding a section of SR 14, which was destroyed by a landslide last fall. The road should be open on weekends beginning June 1, and be open full time by July 4.

SR 14 runs from Cedar City east over Cedar Mountain to its junction with US 89. It provides access to Navajo Lake and Duck Creek Village. It is also a popular route used by some to reach the Cedar Breaks/Brian Head and Bryce Canyon National Park areas.

The slide occurred about 8 miles east of Cedar City.

The Spectrum has this extensive article describing the road work. The article contains several impressive photos showing the slide.

Below are excerpts from the article.

Early estimates of fixing the road within weeks soon spread to months as aerial surveying in the late fall of 2011 showed that the landslide had moved approximately 1.5 million cubic yards of material.

"You worry about those small businesses out there," said Cedar City resident Becki DeMille, who said she often visited Duck Creek when SR-14 was open. "I go up there now the long way around, and it's just sad to see it nearly abandoned."

Grimshaw said the process involves using a PC800 excavator with a six-foot bucket to remove the top six to nine feet of material from the landslide area while dump trucks move the material to an area where it will be used to fortify the base of the road. This process will continue until the area reaches the proper elevation for the new road base.

Meanwhile, other workers are using giant hydraulic jackhammers to break up large boulders for easy removal.

"Some of these are bigger than a two-story house," said UDOT worker Mikel Jake.