If you take the high road, and I take the low road, in Box Elder County at least, you will probably end up at Willard Peak, and quite literally according to that old Scottish tune, “ . . . on the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond.”

But, if you have attempted to traverse the high road to Willard Peak in recent years, you probably have noticed its rough and eroded condition.

The U.S. Forest Service has received federal stimulus funding to reconstruct the road, which belongs to Box Elder County, and the first step, according to Box Elder County Road and Maintenance Supervisor Bill Gilson, is to get a gate on it.

The gate will not only facilitate in the construction while workers add drainage, road base and brine to the road, he said, but would help in “erosion mitigation” if the road were to be closed to vehicular traffic through the winter months.

The gate placement, which was approved by county commissioners last week, will be located one mile south of Mantua City limits. Once the excess snow is cleared from the road, bids for construction will go out by the end of June, and the plan is to leave the gate closed Monday through Thursday the rest of the summer for construction. The gate will opened each Friday through Sunday for recreational use.

Gilson said the forest service would also like to see the road closed each year following the hunting season and during the winter months to help preserve it. “Future access will be determined by the forest service, Division of Wildlife Services, neighbors, and recreationists,” he said.

Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Potter later said, “Nothing is final. The forest service will have to jump through hoops, including a public hearing, before it is closed seasonally.” If closed, he said it would still be accessible to snowmobiles.

Potter said problems occur after the first snow or in early spring when the snow on top starts to melt and big pickups drive on it. “They do the most damage until the road is firmed up.” But it’s “way too preliminary” to talk about road closure, since it will be at least a month before contracts are bid and the gate won’t be locked until then.