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KAYSVILLE — Months of worry for dozens of homeowners in Davis County may turn to joy next week — or they may get bad news.
Utah Department of Transportation officials confirmed to KSL Tuesday they will announce new proposed routes next week for the controversial West Davis Corridor highway project. At stake are the homes of many people as well as wetlands habitat for a variety of wildlife.
As homes have pushed westward in Davis and Weber counties, UDOT has been developing plans for a major north-south highway.
"The growth out here in Davis County is tremendous over the next 30 years; and to meet the needs of that growth, we need to be planning for the transportation," said Randy Jefferies, UDOT's project manager for the West Davis Corridor.
Environmentalists have worried about protecting wildlife habitat.
"Any encroachment on the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake is of the greatest concern," said Marc Heileson, of the Sierra Club.
But homeowners have wondered if they'll lose their homes.
"My boys, even they want to know. It's amazing how much their lives are affected even though they are young. They worry about it," said Jared Weaver, a resident of Kaysville.
UDOT has been studying three proposed routes Next week, they'll announce changes.
"We've been working since February on making adjustments to those alternatives, based on the feedback we've gotten from the public," Jefferies said. "We've learned a tremendous amount over the past several months, and we're making adjustments to find better alternatives."
The Sierra Club says it could trigger legal action if UDOT charges into wetland area.
"Well, we hope there was a lot of lessons learned from the original legacy highway incident," Heileson said. "And we're counting on UDOT to do the right thing and to stay out of the wetlands. and to find a balance of transportation alternatives involving mass transit and road building where the wet lands are protected."
Meanwhile, homeowners are anxiously waiting UDOT to announce its plans.
"Yeah, I've heard different rumors. Some are hopeful; some not as hopeful," Weaver said.
UDOT says their studies have shown that some supposed wetlands areas are not true wetlands. That could be a victory for homeowners; they've argued for months that the highway could be built west of their homes without doing any real damage.
Email: hollenhorst@ksl.com
