Gov. Mike Leavitt talks a lot about using partnerships with local governments to build and improve state highways.
The city of South Jordan has been listening.City officials on Friday approached the State Transportation Commission and proposed a partnership in which the city would share the cost of widening U-151 - the extension of 10600 South - from I-15 to Redwood Road through South Jordan.
The city is willing to pay $400,000 for the design and engineering work, and could obtain about 70 percent of the right of way needed to widen South Jordan's only direct link with I-15 from two to four lanes in each direction.
The Utah Department of Trans-por-ta-tion would have to pay the construction costs, which city officials believe should be $20 million or less.
The commission previously estimated the project would cost about $40 million and penciled in $20 million as the amount it would like to spend on the project during the next 10 years from the state's $2.8 billion Centennial Highway Fund. The commission has not made final decisions on how to allocate that money, although $1.59 billion will go to the reconstruction of I-15.
South Jordan leaders told the commission that widening the two-mile stretch of U-151 is their top priority. The city's population (27,000) has doubled since 1990, they said, and traffic volume on the road is twice its capacity.
City Councilman Kent Money, who outlined the city's proposal, said the city could have design work completed within a year of the day the commission agrees to participate. Friday was not that day.
Transportation Commission Chairman Glen Brown said because the I-15 project costs are now $230 million more than was expected earlier this year, "It's pretty clear here that the biggest dilemma is money."
UDOT executive director Tom Warne said the state's transportation cash flow should be more clear in 30 days. That's when his department will complete a review of the I-15 project costs and its impact on the Centennial High-way Fund.
South Jordan officials said they understand the commission's predicament but said they don't want to go forward with design work unless they have a commitment from the commission.
The commission commended the city for extending the offer.
"Anytime someone is willing to come forward with a partnership, where feasible, we should take advantage of that," Commissioner Dan Eastman said.
The commission also was impressed that South Jordan has signed right-of-way agreements with many developers and property owners along the U-151 corridor. Those agreements call for frontage property to be handed over to the city when the road is widened.
"We believe the only way we're going to get this done is to partnership with UDOT," South Jordan City Administrator Dave Millheim said after the meeting. "The most important thing is that we cooperate because this is a state route."
Millheim said South Jordan may be willing to borrow money to pay for the widening project if the transportation commission will pay it back later.
Keith Snarr, the city's economic development director, said the two-lane road is designed to handle only about 12,000 vehicle trips each day. Currently, it absorbs 25,000 trips a day, and that number is expected to increase as a number of residential and commercial projects near the I-15 interchange are completed.
The city expects between 14 to 16 homes would have to be removed when the road is widened. Millheim said the city would need the state's help to acquire the remaining 30 percent of right of way it has not secured.