It is time once again to sit down with Carbon County Commissioner Larry Jensen to discuss what is taking place in the county. He was eager to talk about water levels and road projects that will be taking place over the summer.

Officials thought when the spring run-off hit this year that there would be some flooding issues in our area but thank goodness there were no problems. They were watching the water levels at Scofield and along White River to determine how they could minimize the chances of flooding. “So as the snow started to melt the goal was to let water out of Scofield at the same time that the snow is beginning to melt, and then to watch White River, the river that goes past Solider Summit, and as the water in that river rose to a point where we would have some problems down here in Price. Then they shut the reservoir back off and didn’t let any water out of Scofield while White River flooded and we could see here in town that water rose way up. Then as we reach a point where the White River dropped in its flood state, then we would anticipate that Scofield would fill and top and start running over the spillway,” said Jensen. The spillway is running now as many folks may have noticed over the last few days. This means that the Price River is running low right now but could rise as water comes in from Scofield and more run-off takes place.

There is work being done on US-6 in Crandall Canyon to help with flooding issues that have posed problems in the past. “We watched as Highway 6 was closed several times when it did flood because of the amount of debris and water that came down Crandall Canyon. So there is a lot of work that occurred up Crandall Canyon that’s really not visible. Part of it you will see from Highway 6 as you pass Crandall Canyon, you’ll see two very large concrete structures that help bring the water down to Highway 6. UDOT is actually going to install a much larger culvert right there right at that canyon so that will be a congested area through the summer as they replace that culvert,” said Jensen. He reminds drivers traveling through that area to proceed with caution as the work is going on.

Many residents may have noticed that there is road construction taking place in the Westwood/Fairgrounds Road area, they are redesigning the intersection where the two roads meet. “So our road department has been in there the last few weeks, making it so that as you approach Westwood Boulevard, you’re not on angle to Westwood Boulevard but will be at a right angle. So it’s more of a “T” looking intersection, making it safer for people to get on and off of Westwood Boulevard. We are also in this calendar year going to have engineering done that would redo the road from Westwood Boulevard all the way to the Fairgrounds,” said Jensen. The Fairgrounds Road project is being funded by a grant that gives county officials two years to complete the project. The first year will be spent on the engineering and the second year will be the actually road construction being done to complete the project.

To stay posted on the dealings within Carbon County, residents are invited to attend the Carbon County Commission Meetings held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 4:30 pm at the Carbon County Administration Building located at 751 East 100 North.