The Utah Transportation Commission received three opinions, none of them surprising, on banning interstate truck traffic from Provo Canyon during a public hearing Thursday night.
Truck drivers want trucks to stay in the canyon. Residents of Salt Lake County who live near the proposed diversion route want trucks to stay in Provo Canyon. And residents of Provo and Orem want interstate trucks banned.A sampling of each opinion:
- Norm Simms, chairman of the United Association of Community Councils, which represents the unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County, said Utah County residents are attempting to transfer the air quality and noise problems associated with trucks to Salt Lake County residents. "Don't transpose an insignificant problem from Provo Canyon to a problem that already exists in Salt Lake County," he said.
- Trucks pose a safety and air quality hazard, and allowing them to use Provo Canyon as a main travel corridor is inconsistent with the canyon's recreational and scenic attractions, said Walter Sive, general manager of Sundance Enterprises. "The communities of Provo and Orem are areas that have a particularly special quality of life," Sive said. "It would be a shame to squander both of these just to allow a few trucks to arrive at their destination just a few minutes earlier."
- Roger Mahoney, operations manager for Tri Valley Distributors in Heber, said banning trucks from Provo Canyon would cause his firm to relocate to St. George. "We plead with you not to ban our trucks out of Provo Canyon," he said. "If you ban interstate trucks it is going to greatly effect our economy in Heber Valley" due to lost fuel and lodging sales.
A study by the Utah Department of Transportation presented to the commission in June said a truck ban was not justified based on safety, air quality or noise concerns. Last March Utah Attorney General Paul Van Dam issued an opinion saying Utah may be able to ban interstate truck traffic from U.S. 189 through Provo Canyon if it can show the traffic presents a substantial safety or health hazard and that rerouting them will not create an undue burden on truckers.
Before making a final decision on UDOT's recommendation, the commission wanted public input on the matter. About 150 people turned out for the hearing at Mountain View High School.
"Never have we received so much pressure on an issue as we have on this one," said Commission Chairman Sam Taylor.
Taylor said the commission will review a transcript of Thursday night's hearing and take final action on the issue within 30 days.
Richard Manser, UDOT urban planning engineer, reviewed findings of the truck study the department conducted last March. That study found an average of 250 trucks travel through Provo Canyon per day. Of those trucks, 57 percent have a destination in Utah; one-third plan to stop in Utah County.
Semitrailer trucks were involved in two fatal accidents in Provo Canyon during the period 1985-90, and no fatal accidents on University Avenue or 800 North.
Diverting trucks would add four to 55 minutes to their travel time through the Wasatch Front, depending on which alternate route truckers took. It would cost trucking companies a total of $10,000 a day to avoid the canyon, Manser said.
Dave McNeil, manager of the planning section for the Bureau of Air Quality, said an interstate route that avoids stop-and-go traffic is preferable from an air quality standpoint.
Taylor chastised the bureau, saying, "You're still not telling us what studies we need to do" to thoroughly evaluate the air quality effects.
McNeil said such a study has never been done before and would cost about $20,000.
Comments by other speakers:
- Mayor Joe Jenkins used slides to compare the structural differences between I-215 in Salt Lake and 800 North in Orem and University Avenue in Provo. Jenkins said interstate trucks should be banned because they jeopardize safety along the two residential streets. He asked the commission to make its decision based on local circumstances and not on the possible loss of federal highway funds.
- Jack Jensen, owner of a trucking company in Heber, said trucks pay $159 billion in federal taxes annually, funds used to maintain the highway system. "The trucking industry . . . built the highway you traveled on tonight," he said.
- Joe Cannon, senate candidate and chairman of the board of Geneva, said the issue is not the survival of the trucking industry. "We're talking about the interstate non-destinational trucks that don't have a reason for coming into our community," he said, speaking in favor of a ban.
- Linda Lee Trotter, representing the Provo School District PTA, said a total truck ban has never been the objective but rather a ban on interstate trucks that are not stopping in Provo or Orem. "Our concern has always been the five schools that are within two blocks of University Avenue and the children who cross that road on a daily basis," she said.
- John Morrisey, a truck driver, said he "can't understand what the hassle is about driving down University Avenue." Truckers are capable of traversing the road safely, he said.