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John Daley Reporting"Vote Yes on Proposition 3." That was the message today as some of the state's top political and business leaders urged voters to approve a ballot measure which would mean nearly a billion dollars for transportation projects.
Election Day is one week away and one of the most closely watched items is Proposition 3, which would invest multi-millions in TRAX expansion, commuter rail and roads.
The Governor even took TRAX down to a press conference to emphasize his support for it. The Chamber of Commerce and virtually every elected official has signed on to back the 900 million dollar plan.
If approved the quarter cent sales tax increase would cost the average Utah family about $104 a year, or roughly $8.66 a month. Supporters suggest that's not much more than the gas money people already waste sitting in traffic.
What Uthans get out of that will be accelerated construction of four new TRAX lines to West Valley, West and South Jordan, Draper and the airport, as well as commuter rail linking Salt Lake, Weber, Dave and Utah Counties, plus roads including the new Mountain View corridor.
With Utah's population and traffic growing way beyond the national average, supporters say we can't afford to wait, though some voters we spoke with today say they're confused by vague ballot language.
Gov. Jon Huntsman: "Welcome to 5th fastest growing state in America. Because with growth we need the infrastructure that will sustain our quality of life and the ability for our economy basically to continue to provide the jobs that will make for quality of life."
Peter Corroon, Salt Lake County Mayor: "The money we spend today will save us money tomorrow."
Faye Carling, East Midvale Voter: "I thought a number of them are confusing so I wasn't really sure."
Margie Twitchell, East Midvale Voter: "I think we need more roads and more ways to get around. It's getting awful out on the freeway."
There is no organized opposition to the proposal. We'll have some new polling on all of this from Dan Jones on Friday.
