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Richard Piatt Reporting...Plans for Legacy Highway are once again being scrutinized in Davis County.
This week, UDOT is holding court ordered public hearings to talk about mass transit options, alternate routes, and rights of way.
Even though a court ruling halted major portions of the project, progress on Legacy continues.
Chunks of concrete. Pounds of garbage. Reams of rebar, old tires, and more.
In all, 34-hundred dump truck loads of junk hauled away from the wetlands UDOT has set aside for the Legacy Highway nature preserve.
It's an area that was the target of a court fight, at the same time it was nothing more than a dump.
Byron Parker/Utah Department Of Transportation: "IT'S A LOT OF WORK. IT'S EXPENSIVE, WE'VE PROBABLY SPENT 700-THOUSAND DOLLARS ON IT. "
Richard Piatt, Eyewitness News: "THIS OLD SHACK USED TO BE THE HEADQUARTERS FOR AN OLD METHANE MINE AROUND HERE, A PLACE THAT OVER THE YEARS BECAME A MAJOR DUMPING GROUND AS WELL. UDOT SAYS THEY HAULED OVER 100 TONS OF DEBRIS FROM THIS AREA ALONE."
UDOT's Byron Parker is overseeing the rehabilitation of 21-hundred acres of wetland for Legacy.
He says this is part of the project that doesn't get much attention, but it’s moving forward while court-ordered legal requirements keep the project in limbo.
But even as public meetings this week address transit options, wildlife impacts and alternate routes, Davis County officials are also planning for the future: with or without Legacy.
Part of that planning is a recognition that land is quickly becoming a premium, even in this area.
Offiicals say if the highway doesn't claim it, developers, within guidelines, will.
Wendell Wild/West Bountiful City Administrator "THERE IS SOME GOOD PASTURE LAND OUT THERE. AND AS LAND VALUES GO UP THERE WILL BE SOME DEVELOPMENT IN THOSE AREAS. "
There is an on-going effort to stop the Highway in favor of developing commuter rail and other options.
Roger Borgenicht/Utahns For Better Transportation "THE WAY WE GET A BALANCED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS TO PRIORITIZE THE TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT DECADE."
But there is also an increasing sense of urgency for Legacy Highway in Davis and Weber Counties especially.
Which is why -- in a variety of ways -- many aspects of the project are going forward, assuming the road itself will someday, too.
Public meetings will continue tomorrow to discuss mass transit options for Northern Utah, as well as Legacy's impact on wildlife.
The meetings are open to the public, and are held at the Davis County Fairgrounds.
