UDOT defends Heber Valley bypass plan despite community concerns

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Transportation is defending a long-discussed Heber Valley bypass project, after Heber Valley residents came together with a “tractorcade” protest against the new bypass proposal.  UDOT said the new route is necessary to ease congestion on U.S. 40 and to prepare the region for continued growth. UDOT Project Manager Craig Hancock said that the project has been under consideration for decades. “The bypass is a project that the community has been looking at for really over several decades now. They came to UDOT several years back and asked UDOT to take the lead on this project. That's really what kicked off our environmental study.” Hancock said.

Community protest against Heber Valley bypass project

The community protest on February 28 included hundreds of tractors, horse trailers and trucks that rolled through the North Fields area of Heber City, where UDOT’s US-40 bypass would build a four-lane highway west of downtown. Families, farmers, and longtime residents of all ages joined the coordinated demonstration, carrying signs reading “Cows over Diesel,” “Save Our Water,” “Save the North Fields,” and “Protect Farms Not Deisels.”  With the public comment period nearing its deadline, many wanted state leaders to know that they are paying attention. “We are coming together as a community to let our concerns be heard,” Bridget Whiting, the tractorcade organizer, said. “The North and South Fields are part of our community identity. They are the open views that greet us every morning, the land that reminds us why we chose to live here, and the source of drinking water that flows to Deer Creek Reservoir.” UDOT officials say the bypass would divert regional traffic away from downtown, improving flow for local drivers who rely heavily on Main Street. “This project allows us to have a corridor that goes around Main Street and now allows regional traffic to go around it so that we can help Main Street flow better,” Wyatt Woolley, with UDOT communications, said. Whiting said the event’s purpose was simple: elevate awareness and participation — well beyond city limits — and make sure the community’s points were on the record.  “We have shown up as a community to the meetings. We have sent our emails, and we just don't feel like our concerns, not just opinions, but our concerns are really being heard,” Whiting said. “So we're coming together to make a positive statement. Bring awareness to the situation and get more people involved, too." 

Farm and water advocates' concerns

Farm and water advocates argue a new four-lane corridor could disturb the very system that recharges the valley’s aquifer, especially in dry years.  “We're very concerned because they have targeted the North Fields to mitigate for wetlands in the east,” Mark Wilson, of the North Field Irrigation Company. “This is very, very important … There isn't any snow on the foothills in the valley. So the only source of water that we will have, after the springs go dry, is this water.” In a statement, the North Field Irrigation Company board said, “UDOT is asking Utah taxpayers to write a billion-dollar blank check to save 70 seconds of drive time – while gambling with the valley’s drinking water, destroying irreplaceable farmland that has been in local families for generations and ignoring four years of warnings from the people who know this land best.” UDOT officials pushed back on that claim. “We looked at it, and we also did our own delineation,” Whooley said. “We have a very large document — a six‑year study — and a huge portion of it was looking at the wetlands in North Fields.” Hancock said water protection is a central part of the agency’s planning. “There are a lot of rules and regulations and laws that are around and that the state has that are used to design to protect our water sources and UDOT adheres to those,” he said. “We obtain the correct permits, we protect the runoff and the water as projects are being constructed and even long-term. And then we have people who monitor and make sure that runoff and those things meet the requirements for water quality.”

Environmental review process

Some local leaders, including Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco have criticized the environmental review process, arguing that the water studies were inadequate and did not use local data. “As mayor of Heber City, I've always been concerned about Route B. UDOT promised that it would be less expensive. It's not,” Mayor Heidi Franco said. “I've been after UDOT for years to make sure that they did the environmental studies they needed to. Now the DHS is out, and the environmental studies are not there.”  Protest organizers refer to the Alternative B proposal as the “Billion Dollar Bypass.” They are demanding transparency on full taxpayer costs — including right-of-way impacts, irrigation and canal reconstruction, wetlands requirements, aquifer protection, and long-term maintenance — before any decision permanently alters the valley’s working lands. Some residents have questioned why UDOT cannot simply expand or modify the existing US 40 corridor instead of building a bypass. Woolley said that approach would not solve the long‑term traffic problems. “(Main street) is okay right now, but we see that pretty soon in the future, it's going to start failing. We're going to have failed intersections. We're going to have huge, long queues and backups,” Woolley said. Whooley said it currently takes about eight minutes to travel from River Road to the U.S. 189 junction. Without intervention, UDOT projects that travel time could increase to 20 to 30 minutes by 2050.

Open space, agriculture, and Heber Valley character

Residents said the stakes go beyond traffic relief, touching on open space, agriculture and the character that draws people to Heber Valley. "It's always been about open space. It's always been about the fields. It's always been about the farmers,” resident Jami Hewlett said. “If we don't have farms, we can't eat, and eating is important, and our aquifers are important." Organizers emphasized that the tractorcade was coordinated, peaceful and meant to build awareness as the public comment deadline approached. “Change that happened throughout history, it didn't happen because people sent in letters and hoped for it to work in their favor,” Whiting said. “It happened because people showed up again and again. They did action. They were visual.” The community said they'll keep speaking up as UDOT's environmental study moves forward, and they want "No Build" and improvements to existing U.S. 40 fully considered before any route is chosen. UDOT is accepting public comments and feedback until March 9, 2026. UDOT will then review and respond to comments before releasing a final environmental impact statement later this year. Residents can submit comments by March 9, 2026, via:

• Website: hebervalleyeis.udot.utah.gov
• Email: hebervalleyeis@utah.gov
• Voicemail: 801-210-0498
• Mail: Heber Valley Corridor EIS c/o HDR, 2825 E Cottonwood Parkway #200, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121

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