Issues
facing Utah - Transportation
Transportation is an area where Utah is seriously
behind. The problems are easy to see. There is gridlock
on I-15 both north and south of Salt Lake City. Eagle Mountain,
Saratoga Springs and other rapidly growing communities are putting
tremendous strain on city streets that were never meant to carry
that kind of traffic. US-6 from Spanish Fork to Price still
claims far too many lives. St. George and Cedar City are rapidly
growing, and the road building in that area hasn't really even
begun yet. Many existing roads, like Geneva Road have aged well
beyond their design and desperately need repair or rebuilding.
The list goes on and on. Utah needs to correct this shortage
of transportation funding and make road building a priority
for years to come. Here are some of the ideas that I have supported
and will continue to support.
 Set-aside budget for
transportation. Until this session, transportation
funding always came after everything else. There was no statutory
minimum on how much to direct to transportation so it has always
had to go to the back of the line. In the 2006 session a bill
was passed to set aside a fixed percentage of the sales tax
revenue for transportation. The percentage can only be changed
by passing another bill. This will make it easier to ensure
that transportation will get some reasonable funding from year
to year. This will make long term planning easier and give the
Utah Department of Transportation more flexibility in its approach
to upkeep and new construction.
Corridor preservation.
As new developments spring up in an area, the cost of land goes
up. When the time for a highway comes, the cost of the land
may have increased more than tenfold. By taking a hard look
at the long range forecasts and setting aside a small amount
of money now, UDOT can purchase land before the price jumps
and save the state millions of dollars over the long run.
Toll roads.
If a private company is willing to build a road according to
UDOT's specifications and that route has a reasonable alternate,
then a toll road can be a great option to get a road in place
much sooner than waiting for the state to be able to fund it.
Mass transit.
Commuter rail, busses, HOV lanes, HOT lanes are all ideas worthy
of consideration, and we should always be looking for innovative
and cost-effective ways to meet our growing transportation needs.
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