UDOT's FUNDING - WILL IT MAKE OR BREAK THE NEW HIGHWAY EXTENSION?
UDOT does not currently have funding for the West Davis Corridor to be built. Their next phase is to further study and engineer the 3 proposed routes, which could take up to 1year according to UDOT official Randall Jefferies. After that process is done, it could take up to 1 more year to have approval, and there is also going to be more studies, discussions, and considerations in the meantime, not to mention some possible battles from homeowners and other concerned citizens in the meantime.
One VERY KEY FACTOR that will come into play when UDOT finally decides on a route and has it approved is that they will need to secure funding at that point. Where will the funding come from? YOU, ME, and ALL of the taxpayers in the state of Utah! There may also be some Federal funding or other options, but a large portion will come from us the residents.
The moral of this story is that we all need to contact our State Representatives, Senators, and local city officials and voice our objections to funding a UDOT project that will unnacceptably require demolition of homes, seizure of property, eminent domain, demolition of businesses, parks, or any other such criteria that is not in the will of the majority of the public.
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES AND OFFICIALS AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!!! We do not want to fund a project that is in UDOT's best interest rather than the PEOPLE's best interest.
UPDATE - JUNE, 2016: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) previously released an extensive, highly detailed commentary that said it does not approve of ANY of UDOT's proposed alternative routes for the highway. The EPA commentary focused solely on wetlands and the impact of a road on birds and wildlife, while making little to NO reference to the impact on homes, people, or residents of the area. The EPA's statements forced UDOT to look at the "Shared Solution Alternative" which was basically widening and enhancing existing roads rather than building a new highway.
As of Spring 2016, UDOT has concluded a long study and released a formal position statement that the Shared Solution will NOT work, and has been dismissed from further consideration. UDOT is now back to recommending construction of the highway using the current Glover's Lane route. In Spring of 2017, UDOT will release its final EIS (Environmental Impact Survey) and then ask the Federal Govt for funding once again. When asked if the Fed will fund this product, UDOT Spokesman Randy Jefferies said on May 27, 2016 "we just don't know." This means that the entire West Davis Corridor project is still up in the air pending final approval and funding from the Federal Govt, and it likely will remain this way for several more years.
In regard to dealing with what the Fed has already said about the new highway: UDOT has been extremely quiet about the EPA commentary, and quietly posted the EPA comments blended in with comments from the general public. The fact that UDOT appears to be quietly trying to hide a HUGE DEVELOPMENT in plain sight (by stuffing the EPA report in the middle of random public comments) speaks volumes in and of itself.