SAN JUAN COUNTY, UT — Lt. Gov. Diedre Henderson and Navajo Nation leaders recently gathered at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate construction of the Energy Corridor project.

With this $152 million project, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) will be laying 54 miles of pavement to cover the lengths of both SR-162 and SR-262 in southeastern Utah, including a more in-depth reconstruction of a 9-mile section between Montezuma Creek and Aneth.

UDOT partnered with the Navajo Nation to secure a $48 million Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects grant to help fund the project. Crews will also replace the McElmo bridge, build a roundabout at Montezuma Creek, add rumble strips, widen the shoulders of the road, and replace guardrail, among other improvements.

This project will make travel safer, smoother, and more convenient for the residents in the area; visitors traveling to Bears Ears, Four Corners, and Hovenweep National Monuments; and workers serving the petroleum extraction industry in the region.

Construction is scheduled to continue through the end of 2025.