Utah State group documents nation’s byways
From Alaska to Florida crisscrossing the country are America’s Byways. Off the interstates, these highways all have a story to tell and it falls to a handful of people working at Utah State University to tell these stories.
The group maintains a Web site project devoted to the national scenic byways for the National Scenic Byways Program.
From maps of the byways to their historical significance, the project documents it all and places it at easy reference on the Web site www.byways.org. Angel Crane, team leader of the project, said they look at everything that makes the byway special and unique.
The Web site allows a person to click on any of America’s Byways and find directions, photographs, sights of interest and historical significance.
Pete Deffendol, a software developer, said there are thousands of photographs on the Web site.
“It’s more than facts and figures,” Crane said. “Why would you drive this way instead of the other way?”
Crane said it’s the chance to become aware of “wonderful opportunities to get people off the highways and into the local level.”
She said it’s about experiencing more quality.
Crane said the byways are not just scenic in nature. There is one byway through Alabama that follows the path of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march. There are also campsites along the byway where marchers spent the night. Another byway in New Mexico takes travelers through the country inhabited by Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, she said.
In abundance are the scenic byways taking the traveler through all different types of country.
“There are hundreds of little stories and this takes them there,” Crane said.
Some of Utah’s byways include the Nebo Loop connecting Payson to Nephi, the Flaming Gorge/Uintah Byway and the Energy Loop in Bryce Canyon.
Crane said in researching these byways they sometimes get the opportunity to visit them. They were able to travel the Energy Loop when it was being nominated. She said she and the other employees are avid supporters of traveling the byways.
Crane said their other duties include helping communities in designating the byways as national byways. The Web site contains both applications and directions for doing so.
There are different benefits to having a byway named as a national byway she said. There is the added benefit of more federal funding and increased tourism.
Some property owners along the roads worry the designation might mean more control, but Crane said, “This is about recognition not regulation.”
She said there are currently various groups working toward nominating Logan Canyon as a national byway. The canyon is currently listed as a state byway. Some of the organizations assisting in this include Bridgerland Travel, the Logan Canyon Coalition and the Forest Service.
Crane said a byway must be nominated by a group associated with the byway. A group in Washington, D.C., cannot nominate a byway here. The nominations are sent to the Federal Scenic Byway Program. The program has panelist experts from all over the country and from a wide range of backgrounds. They review the nominations and then make recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation who makes the final decision, she said.
Logan Canyon recently won an award for Best Practices for Byways. The award was based on improvements in brochures, street signs and travel exhibits. The canyon was one of nine byways chosen out of 40. The funding for these improvements came from federal sources.
The National Scenic Byways Program was established in 1991 by the ICTEA act and the Web site began in 1996. Crane said ICTEA and the TEA 21 act provide the funds for the byways.
The project employs about five or six employees. Some of these are part-time USU students. Crane said they do provide opportunities for internships in technical writing.
For more information about the program or to access these byways go to www.byways.org.