All the quibbling in the world over the methods to determine whether or not the proposed Legacy Parkway is justified doesn't alter this fact: It's needed. The sooner the better.
Those who oppose the 12-mile, four-lane highway from Farmington to North Salt Lake, are not being realistic. At present, only I-15 serves as a major artery linking Davis County to Salt Lake City. Any kind of an accident creates a terrible bottleneck for commuters, as they learned earlier this week when a truck overturned during the morning rush hour. Even without an accident, traffic comes to a virtual standstill along the Farmington-North Salt Lake stretch during peak travel time.
Opponents of the Legacy Parkway say the traffic model used to determine its need is flawed. They claim it does not take into account induced travel or land-use changes and that building more highway lanes encourages more driving. A greater capacity for cars will be matched by more demand. More highway construction leads to sprawled development and additional vehicle trips.
That is precisely why this page has called for a comprehensive transportation plan to deal with the Wasatch Front's projected population growth over the next 50 years. Those projections are that 5 million people will live here by 2050, nearly triple the current total.
That kind of growth will require not only additional highway construction but a substantial increase in public transportation. For Salt Lake County, light rail has provided a good start to the public transportation needs. But such a system is not feasible, at least for quite awhile, in Davis County. However, commuter rail — coupled with the Legacy Parkway — is.
The Legacy Parkway is the first leg of a proposed 120-mile Legacy Highway that would run from Brigham City to Nephi, providing relief for I-15 congestion.
Utah Department of Transportation officials will meet with the Federal Highway Administration and Army Corps of Engineers later this week and hope to issue the final Environmental Impact Statement by the second week in June. A public hearing would be held a month later. The go-ahead from the Federal Highway Administration and the Corps could come in October.
Assuming approval, UDOT could hire a contractor in December and the Legacy Parkway could be under construction by July of next year. For residents of Davis County, in particular, that is none too soon.