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John Daley ReportingHere we go again. State road builders and conservationists are once again on a collision course over a big new highway, of which one proposed route would go right through federally-protected wetlands.
Sound familiar? It should.
You could call it "Legacy Two." Remember the fight over the Legacy Highway in Davis County? This time, the dispute is coming in Utah County, and the themes are hauntingly similar: Where to put a freeway; what about transit; and how about the wetlands?
Utah County is the new ground zero for explosive growth and traffic, and all the tough decisions that go along with that.
In the cross hairs now are the wetlands on the north end of Utah Lake-- a favorite duck hunting spot, where an effort is underway to preserve Spring Creek.
Lehi resident Ryan Barker says the wetlands draw all kinds of wildlife.
Ryan Barker/ Conservation Biologist: "We're getting down to where we don't have too many of these places left. That's why we'd like to keep this place wild."
But development pressures are building, and state highway planners are mapping out the next major highway project-- the southern extension of the Mountain View Corridor.
One route getting serious consideration would go through the heart of the wetlands, and that has conservation groups from Ducks Unlimited to the Sierra Club raising red flags.
Marc Heileson/ Sierra Club: "The most fatal flaw of this project in Utah County-- there's not one transit option being considered."
Officials with UDOT say transit IS something they're looking at, while they also try to minimize impact on existing homes.
Teri Newell/ Project Manager, Mountain View Corridor: "We're in the neighborhood of, I think between 130 to 180 homes that would be taken with the southern freeway alignment."
UDOT says it wants to try to build consensus to avoid another prolonged fight, like the one which stalled the Legacy Highway for 10 years, and led to an embarrassing court defeat for state road builders.
Marc Heileson/ Sierra Club: "This unfortunately seems like deja vu of ten years with Legacy Highway in Davis County, where they chose the wetlands as the route for the project."
"Legacy Two or deja vu. Do you see that playing out potentially?"
Teri Newell/ Project Manager, Mountain View Corridor: "I think we can draw on some real positive conclusions from some things that happened on Legacy and that's what we're trying to apply on this project."
Of course, looming over this discussion is the possibility, eventually, of some legal action if UDOT selects a route through the wetlands.
Anything like that is still a long ways away. The first step will be an environmental impact statement,which could be completed next year.
