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Robinson Canyon Road moves toward construction after Forest Service draft approval
Summary
County staff said the Forest Service provided a preliminary draft approval for Robinson Canyon Road; final sign‑off from Forest Service staff is expected before year‑end, after which the county will begin construction with an estimated late summer/fall 2025 completion, initially under a categorical exclusion permitting limited trail access.
Kane County Public Lands committee members heard a progress report on Robinson Canyon Road, a multi‑year access project that county staff said is now positioned to move from planning into construction pending final Forest Service sign‑off.
Speaker 1 told the committee the Forest Service has provided a preliminary draft approval and that the county is awaiting a final document from Forest Service staff member Chris Worley. "We just got a preliminary draft, of the approval that, we should be as soon as Chris Worley from the forest service sends me the final... then the county is gonna start building that road," Speaker 1 said.
Speaker 1 said the project is included in the county’s budget and that construction could be completed in late summer or into fall 2025. The committee discussed permitting and environmental review procedures: the Forest Service agreed to treat the corridor initially as a trail and to pursue a categorical exclusion (CE) under the National Environmental Policy Act, which allows work to proceed for limited uses without a full environmental impact statement. Under that approach, county officials said the initial access will be limited to horse and four‑wheeler use (not full‑size vehicles), and the county can later apply to upgrade the corridor to a wider county road once it has demonstrated maintenance and compliance.
The committee framed the CE pathway as a significant step because the Forest Service does not typically open new roads. Speaker 3 noted that while the CE allows initial access, a later application would be required to convert the trail to a full county road of wider width.
Committee members did not record a detailed budget figure in the meeting transcript; Speaker 1 said the project is "in the budget" but did not specify an amount. Staff said they will report back with the final Forest Service paperwork and next steps once Chris Worley provides the final approval.
The committee’s direction leaves the county poised to begin construction once the Forest Service finalizes paperwork and the county completes its internal steps.
