Thanks to the efforts of local leadership, the Leland Bench project in Uintah County will move forward with a more than affordable funding package from the Community Impact Board. The project originally was awarded a $6 million dollar loan paired with a $9.8 million dollar grant. With economic downturn and budget constraints to consider, representation from the Uintah County Commission, Uintah Transportation Special Service District, and the public attended the CIB meeting in Salt Lake on Thursday requesting that the grant portion of the award be kept while the loan portion be dropped. Though an uncommon outcome, the CIB was persuaded to drop just the loan portion on the project that is meant to divert the up to 250 trucks per day that are forecast for that area once the new upgrader is up and running. “This not only benefits those on Woods Road where the roadway is falling apart but this project will divert the many trucks that would have gone down through Ballard and Roosevelt and takes that traffic directly to Myton instead,” explains UTSSD Chairman and Uintah County Commissioner Duane Shepherd. Uintah County is the highest producer of mineral lease funds in the state which is the source of CIB funding.
