On a day when a bad wreck closed I-15 and created gridlock in south Davis County, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. by coincidence signed an agreement that will allow construction to resume on an alternate route to I-15 — the Legacy Parkway.
Surrounded by state officials and former opponents of the parkway, the governor Monday signed the agreement that ends a years-long fight over whether the 14-mile road should be built. It will run from Salt Lake City to Farmington, adjacent to the Great Salt Lake.
"Congratulations, everyone," said Huntsman after he signed the agreement during a ceremony in his boardroom.
Last Wednesday, state lawmakers signed off on the agreement during a three-hour special legislative session. The approval came after months of negotiations between lawmakers, the governor's office, the Utah Department of Transportation and plaintiffs in the 2001 suit that halted construction of Legacy.
Lynn de Freitas, executive director of Friends of Great Salt Lake, said she was "relieved" the fight over Legacy had officially ended. Friends of Great Salt Lake were part of the original group of plaintiffs that sued to halt construction of Legacy. "I feel that a very responsible solution to a very politically charged and contentious issue has been made," she said.
While the plaintiffs originally didn't want Legacy to be built, the settlement is a sign that they had to be realistic, said de Freitas.
Roger Borgenicht with the Future Moves Coalition said Legacy will now be a civilized road, considering provisions outlined in the settlement.
Those provisions include:
Banning truck traffic.
Banning billboards on the road's west side.
Restricting speed to 55 mph.
Spending $2.5 million for a study of mass transit.
UDOT estimates the road will cost $680 million, about $200 million more than the original price tag.
Rep. Dan Eastman, R-Bountiful, said Monday marked the official ending of a long fight over Legacy. "There's no question I'm pleased. This has been a long time coming," he said.
The Legacy Parkway was first proposed in 1996 as part of the 120-mile long Legacy Highway. Plans for the highway were eventually scrapped, but cities still hope for a northern extension of Legacy from Farmington into Weber County.
Just hours before the governor signed the Legacy Parkway settlement agreement, a semitruck crashed on I-15 near Bountiful at about 4:45 a.m., forcing closure of northbound I-15 for nearly four hours, bringing traffic to a standstill and creating big delays for motorists in both directions.
The crash split open the truck's cab and trailer and critically injured the driver. No one else was injured.
Witnesses told investigators the semi was swerving all over the road prior to crashing. Drowsy driving was being looked at as a possible cause, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
Centerville Police Lt. Paul Child said detouring traffic off I-15 created gridlock on most of his city's neighborhood streets. "It's a miracle someone wasn't injured," he said.
Child said the accident was another example of why an alternate route, such as the Legacy Parkway, is needed.
Contributing: Pat Reavy
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com