FARMINGTON — An expanded Legacy Parkway can't come soon enough for many northern Davis County residents, mayors and city councils.
But to avert lawsuits this time around, the Utah Department of Transportation is reaching out to environmentalists, many of whom are asking whether another road is the solution to growth on the western edges of the county.
UDOT is beginning an $8 million environmental impact statement called the West Davis Corridor, looking at the land west of I-15 from Centerville to Ogden's 12th Street. It will consider noise, wildlife, air quality, water quality, cultural and historical facts and current homes.
Originally called the "Legacy North Corridor," UDOT has since backed away from that name, calling it instead the West Davis Corridor. The name change has some raising their eyebrows.
"It's a little of a concern on Layton City's part, because it was our understanding that Legacy would continue north and be the same as the south part," said Peter Matson, Layton city planner. "But that's not going to be guaranteed."
Davis County has the third-highest population in the state, with 295,332 residents, according to Census Bureau estimates. Yet, at 630 square miles, its land mass is the smallest.
About 45 percent of the Davis County work force leaves the county each day, according to a 2007 study by the University of Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
Clinton resident Jeremy Shaffer commutes daily to his civil engineering job by the Salt Lake City International Airport. Just getting from home to I-15 is inconvenient because there are no east-west arterial streets.
"The speed limit is either 40 mph or less," he said. Streets have railroad crossings and school zones. It takes 15 minutes just to reach I-15, and another 35 minutes on I-15, Legacy, I-215 and I-80 to get to the office.
"I'd be all for a north Legacy route," he said. "It's just nice to not have to go east."
The West Davis Corridor Study will take three to five years and will consider the population through 2040, project manager Randy Jefferies said. It will consider all modes of transportation, including mass transit, highways and bike trails.
The first section of Legacy Parkway cost $685 million for 14 miles — $234 million over the initial budget — after environmental groups sued UDOT and the federal government over the project and a federal judge forced the sides to compromise. The compromise included preserving some wetlands by moving the highway closer to I-15 and promoting FrontRunner Commuter Rail.
UDOT doesn't want history repeated with the West Davis Corridor.
"We're reaching out to them," Jefferies said about environmental groups. "We view them as great contributors in this process."
Mark Heileson, the Sierra Club's western region representative, went to a stakeholders meeting in February.
"We see tremendous wetland conflicts," he said. "Whether our input will be considered is another point, but at least they invited us to that initial meeting."
The wetlands near the Great Salt Lake serve as a habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl. In addition to birds that live there year-round, millions of migrating birds stop off at the Great Salt Lake, an oasis from the Great Basin and the Mohave and Chihuahua deserts, Heileson said.
Jefferies of UDOT doesn't know whether there are wetlands in the study area, since the study hasn't begun. "We expect there are various environmentally sensitive areas out there," he said.
Heileson worries about air quality with another highway.
Heileson believes the solution is "smart growth," or planning communities near public transit in a way in which residents run errands on foot. UDOT will choose a highway alignment after the EIS is completed. Some city councils have announced their preferred alignments.
"When looking at some of the alignments, especially in Farmington, sirens go off," Heileson said, because Farmington City Council's preferred alignment, approved in June 2009 in the westernmost part of city limits, paves over wetlands.
"It's what we call 'failing to avoid loss of wetlands,' " he said.
CONTRIBUTING: Joseph M. Doughery
e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com