July 13, 2000 No need for Legacy route in Weber, lawmakers say INSIDE: Leavitt's Legacy view/2B By RALPH WAKLEY_ Standard-Examiner Capitol Bureau SALT LAKE CITY - Picking a route for the proposed Legacy Highway through Weber County is a problem that doesn't need to be solved right now, or even next year, and possibly never, House Speaker Marty Stephens and state Sen. Joe Hull said Wednesday. "I don't want them to draw a line on the map," said Stephens, R-Farr West, referring to a Wasatch Front Regional Council meeting set for next Wednesday to select one of three options for a Weber County route for the planned north-south freeway. Hull, D-Hooper, said he and the speaker told council representatives "none of the plans are acceptable. It's the biggest issue in my (Senate) district. They don't want a bypass freeway just for interstate trucking." Barring some last-minute en- Who's protected? If your city is listed in green, farmers can apply for protection from nuisance complaints or lawsuits, if yellow or undecided, your city does not provide for protection. Agricultural protection Box Elder Bear River Brigham City Corinne Elwood Fielding Garland Honeyville Mantua Perry Plymouth Snowville Tremonton Willard Davis Bountiful Centerville Clearfield Clinton Farmington Fruit Heights Kaysville Layton North Salt Lake South Weber Sunset Syracuse West Bountiful West Point Woods Cross Undecided No protection Morgan Morgan City Weber Eden Farr West Harrisville Hooper Huntsville County protects unincorporated land July 25, 2000 vironmental glitch, construction on the initial Davis County segment of the Legacy Highway, between North Salt Lake and the Lagoon area, is to begin this coming winter at a cost of nearly $400 million. That's all fine, said Stephens, adding, "I'm supportive of the Legacy Highway." But Stephens and Hull said the next section will likely be in Salt Lake County, not heading north. "That Salt Lake County section will probably run about $1 billion in construction and land acquisition costs," Stephens said. And Hull added, "We're going to spend 20 years financing that puppy." Both say there's no immediate need to identify a freeway corridor in Weber County because it would harm land values for decades and the route might change 20 or 30 years from now, and the Weber County leg might never be built. "It's important to plan for the future, but we can't do that at the expense of property owners until and unless the state is willing and able to compensate them for their loss in value," Stephens said. Because plans change over time, the state might end up acquiring property it doesn't need, Stephens said. "We're convinced it's not good judgment to plan this far ahead. And I personally am not convinced there will ever be a road built in western Weber County." As far as Weber County's transportation needs are concerned, there are more important issues, both said, such as widening of I-15 from 31st Street north, expansion of U.S. Highway 89, construction of a commuter-rail system, and improvements to a number of east-west highways, including 31st Street and 27th North. Most Legacy Highway proposals call for a freeway running west of Interstate 15 from roughly the Juab-Utah county line north to near the Box Elder-Weber county line. But Stephens said, "We're willing to talk about a Weber County option." Their alternative would bring the Legacy Highway from the Davis-Weber county line north and east along Midland Drive and then Hinckley Drive to connect with I-15 at Ogden's 31st Street interchange. That would have the least impact on Weber County, they said.