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Tooele County reviews comprehensive road policy update, asks commissioners to review draft
Summary
County staff presented a multi-year rewrite of the Tooele County road policy that consolidates scattered code references, formalizes maintenance standards and defines when the county will assume ownership of key routes; commissioners were asked to review and expect a return for adoption at a later meeting.
County staff presented a comprehensive update to the Tooele County road administrative policy at the Jan. 6, 2026 commission meeting, outlining a single, consolidated framework for road maintenance, design standards and when the county will perform or accept responsibility for roads.
Jed, the staff presenter, described the document’s scope: “for me, it gives me a, kind of a blueprint for the maintenance that we perform.” He said the draft pulls requirements now scattered through Title 15 and Chapter 6 of the land-use code into one policy and clarifies responsibilities for paved, gravel and unpaved roads, private-road work, traffic-control devices and major construction projects.
The draft references nationally recognized standards for design and traffic control: the American Public Works Association (APWA) standards, the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and AASHTO engineering guidance. Jed said the policy formalizes inspection schedules, ADA compliance triggers and trip-hazard scoring for sidewalks; older ADA ramps are grandfathered unless an adjacent overlay or major improvement requires bringing ramps up to the current standard.
Staff also described a mechanism to identify and claim certain corridors as county-owned "class B" roads. Jed noted that once a road is claimed and included in the county mileage report submitted to UDOT, “that claiming of the road, we receive our gas tax based on that.” Commissioners discussed the need to negotiate interlocal agreements with municipalities before any reclassification and asked that staff coordinate right-of-way transfers when necessary.
The presentation included project-level context: staff said the county has submitted an application for approximately $5.2 million for the first phase of a Drew Bay realignment and stressed that right-of-way ownership must be in place before applying for some federal grants.
Commissioners had technical questions about drainage enforcement on private property and whether the policy enables proactive county intervention. Staff answered that many drainage issues are discovered only after neighbors flood, but the consolidated policy gives clearer authority to require restoration and enforcement. On ADA ramps, staff confirmed upgrades are required when adjacent roadway overlays trigger current APWA/ADA standards.
Commissioners were asked to review the draft policy and submit questions to staff; the county indicated it intends to bring a formal adoption item to a future meeting once outstanding issues are resolved.
The commission took no formal vote on the policy at the Jan. 6 meeting; staff asked commissioners to return comments within one to two weeks to allow staff to schedule the item for adoption at a subsequent meeting.
