WEST VALLEY CITY — Councilwoman Margaret Peterson remembers when the state bought her home to build the Bangerter Highway almost two decades ago.

Back then it was touted as the most significant road to be built in the valley since I-15. Yet the highway came as a mixed blessing.

The combination of wide lanes and intermittent stoplight intersections has served as a source of many accidents and pedestrian issues over the years.

"We feel like we have not been in the loop before and decisions have been made without us," Peterson said.

Fast forward to plans for the Mountain View corridor and for some city officials, it almost feels like deja vu.

"Our first reaction is, 'Oh no, not another major highway through our city that will bifurcate it,' " Peterson said.

State transportation officials assure that Mountain View will not be another Bangerter Highway. Both the Utah Department of Transportation and city officials agree that a western highway will be critical to the explosive growth on the valley's west side.

Mayor Dennis Nordfelt said having a western freeway is critical, given projections that show a looming traffic crisis on the Salt Lake Valley's west side.

"We already have transportation problems so we need to come up with a solution," Nordfelt said, adding he is concerned more about what the highway will look like. Of the some 35 miles, West Valley City has seven miles of the Mountain View corridor. How the freeway is built will either help or hinder West Valley's future.

Funding is also a concern. "The bottom line is, how are we going to pay for whatever it turns out to be," Nordfelt said. Being vice chairman of the Wasatch Front Regional Council's transportation subcommittee, Nordfelt said there is funding for the freeway's environmental impact study but not enough to actually get the freeway built. That combined with the fact that the Legislature yanked funding to widen 3500 South, an important east-west corridor for West Valley City, this year has the mayor concerned.

Nordfelt said residents will have to make some difficult decisions in the coming years. Among them is the 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax needed to fund future transportation projects, such as Mountain View.

UDOT has several proposed routes through West Valley City, but city officials say each route has difficulties that must be overcome.

One proposal would have the freeway beginning at 5600 West from the north and running south at about 5800 West, veering further west at 4700 South where it would tie into the Taylorsville section.

Another proposal would put the freeway farther south along 7200 West, near West Valley City's western border.

The 7200 West alignment would take the corridor through the Hunter Subdivision, one of the nicest residential areas, said city administrator Wayne Pyle. For a while, the option was not possible due to the fact that the south part ventured into Alliant Techsystems' property. Recently the company has given the OK to build through their land.

The 7200 West freeway option could require about 200 homes to be demolished. However, some council members are concerned that having the freeway more centralized, at 5800 West, could divide the city.

"We understand and recognize that we're going to have significant issues with any alignment," Pyle said. Simply put, building a freeway amid a city that's close to reaching its development capacity is tough, he said.

However, Pyle said the 5800 West option also has more positive opportunities for future commercial development along the freeway.

Transit options are also being considered for West Valley City. In addition to the future TRAX line, UTA is looking at a possible transit line along 5600 West. UTA officials are thinking the line could be a dedicated rapid bus line or even some form of streetcar system — a first in Utah. A bus rapid transit line is also being considered to follow the 7200 West option. In addition, a multi-use trail would follow both freeway options.

UDOT project manager Teri Newell said her team has strived to keep all affected cities up to date. The team has visited each of the 12 cities, some several times.

So far, Newell said planning is still in the concept stage and no solid plans are being formed yet. "It's a long, slow process we're in," Newell said, adding that a good two years of discussion and feedback remain before an environmental study will be completed.

Newell said UDOT definitely has no plan to build something like Bangerter. "Our data is showing us that there is a need for a freeway in the area," complete with interchanges and overpasses, Newell said.

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Newell said city officials in West Valley should be getting a clearer picture of the project in the coming months.

Councilman Joel Coleman said he feels UDOT officials have listened to their concerns so far. As far as alignments, Coleman said he would favor one that would displace the smallest number least amount of homes. Coleman also said he is concerned that the project could end up as another Bangerter Highway, saying that UDOT needs to find the funding to do it right, or not at all.

"I really think that they shouldn't build it, rather than not build it the way it should be," Coleman said.


E-MAIL: gfattah@desnews.com

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