A project several years in the works is expected to move forward in 2017 through the Uintah Transportation Special Service District. The Woods Road project is a continuation of a master project for getting industrial trucks off the main highways and off the residential streets, shares UTSSD Chairman Duane Shepherd. It includes several roads and will largely utilize federal grant funding. The Woods Road is literally falling apart, says Shepherd. There are places with 3 to 4 feet of asphalt that are crumbling. The area has also been affected by a wetlands project that raised the water table and as a result has damaged home foundations that are aggravated by the truck traffic vibrating the ground. During the last Uintah County Commission meeting, two resolutions connected to the project were considered and tabled. One is the resolution that the county will not “impair the mineral lease revenues” as they travel from federal pockets to the Transportation District, which is a standard practice where mineral lease funds are concerned. “The resolution is in place so that when the state sends the funds, the County will not encumber those funds in any other direction,” explains Shepherd. “It is so the funds go straight to the district without getting lost in the County somewhere else.” Commissioner Bill Stringer questioned the project during that Commission meeting and after some discussion, the resolutions were tabled and will be picked up again in 2017.
