WEST JORDAN — Homes for asphalt.
It's a familiar-sounding story in growing urban areas — a busy road needs widening; homes and businesses are in the way.
It came to pass in West Valley City along 5600 West with seemingly equal amounts of pain and pleasure for the residents affected by the project — some, though, welcomed the trade-off of real estate for a safer thoroughfare.
It's happening right now along Redwood Road in at least two cities.
The trick for governmental agencies is to satisfy property owners, who lose part or all of their land in the process, without exercising the imposing power of eminent domain — all while trying to ease traffic woes on an increasingly dangerous road.
"We try to be really sensitive about people's circumstances," says Evelyn Tuddenham, a public involvement coordinator for the Utah Department of Transportation.
But in this city, one family is about to lose three homes and their business, which has been around since 1960.
The city and UDOT, along with a contractor, are set to enter into sensitive negotiations with the owners of 11 homes and one business along 7800 South. UDOT hopes to begin widening sections of the road between the Jordan River and Bangerter Highway by next spring.
The next step toward that goal is buying up private property, or, more aptly, to settle the human side of the equation. And no one has been affected more than the family of Curtis Jewkes, who remembers when only a few thousand people lived in West Jordan.
For 55 years, Jewkes, 76, has lived at 2263 W. 7800 South. He owns two homes — one used as offices for the business next door — and a son owns a third home down the road. All, including the 10,000-square-foot building that houses a school and office-supply distribution company, are expected to be demolished.
"Thank goodness for this," says son Morgan Jewkes, who now helps oversee the family business and lives in one of the homes to be destroyed. A strange thing for someone in his position to say? Not when he points to a certain time of day.
Between about 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., the younger Jewkes can almost guarantee a traffic accident near the business. The city's police chief agrees with that assessment. It's no stretch to imagine why.
A drive along 7800 South between 1300 West and Bangerter Highway takes travelers from six lanes down to two, with sections of four lanes thrown in. It's a little like navigating an asphalt squeeze box — in and out, in and out.
The goal is to establish consistency with a uniformly widened 7800 South, now lined by commercial interests in many places as it makes its way west to the ever-growing Jordan Landing retail development. Improvements have been made to the north side of the road — now it's the south side's turn, and time to test the civic and emotional mettle of people like the Jewkes.
The city has a budget of about $4 million for property acquisition in this first phase of construction. UDOT says it is prepared, if certain needs warrant, to kick in a little extra. They may not need it with the Jewkes.
"I expect them to be fair with me," says Curtis Jewkes. "I'm not going to try to hold them up.
"I think they should pay me for what it's worth. . . . I don't want to get mean with them."
Son Morgan says it's not about money, but rather about principle and fairness. He mainly wants a safer road, and his biggest concern is logistical — he wants enough time to move the business and to relocate their homes.
His father already knows where the family will live — on five acres that the city, through rezoning the land, helped him salvage. It's located behind the current business. Where the warehouse will be moved is still up in the air, but the city assures it will help make the transition as smooth as possible.
Curtis Jewkes, like others along 7800 South who have heard for years a road-widening project would be coming, just wants negotiations to be finished and construction to begin so he can get on with his life. The city is eager to help him with that.
"We're going to do what we can to make sure they are taken care of and that their needs are addressed," said economic development director Wayne Harper. Not just the Jewkes, but all the property owners along 7800 South, some of whom own "historic" homes.
But the negotiating in West Jordan won't end with a widened, less-congested 7800 South. The next in line for a major road-widening project is the troubled 7000 South, where about 24 homes may one day have to be destroyed to accommodate the glut of traffic in this rapidly growing city.
E-MAIL: sspeckman@desnews.com