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Syracuse • The debate over what to pave and what to save in this west-side community fueled a three-hour hearing last week as residents voiced heartfelt concerns to the City Council — inspiring members to push a new alternative.
Utah's Department of Transportation has asked Davis County cities for feedback on its final three alternatives — A, B and C — for a multi-lane highway to run north and south along the county's west side. The 25-mile West Davis Corridor will one day connect the Legacy Parkway (State Route 67) from Farmington northward to either 2100 South or 1200 South in Ogden.
Several residents opposed UDOT's alternatives and by night's end, the council voted unanimously to send the agency a fresh idea — hybrid "C3" to connect UDOT's alternative C to Bluff Road with an interchange at Antelope Drive.
"We hope the city draws a hard line and rejects all three of UDOT's preferred routes," said resident Lisa O'Brien. She recently discovered that alternative C would go straight through her newer Syracuse home.
Melissa Payne, who lives in a house which has been in her husband's family for more than a century and could face demolition, said she favors the Bluff Road option that UDOT considered for years but recently scrapped.
"I believe that UDOT is wrong — they're tearing [the community] apart," Payne said. "I'd like you to go back and stand up for Syracuse and say none of these [options] are OK."
Nathan Miller, who lives on Bluff Road, noted the city's growth from 9,000 residents a decade ago to 24,000 today.
"It doesn't matter what we do here — it will impact people," Miller said of the dilemma over whether to sacrifice new or historic homes, wetlands, parks, farmlands or business opportunities in exchange for another asphalt thoroughfare.
"Get rid of this highway; just don't do it," Miller said, evoking applause throughout the crowded council chamber.
Stan Hamblin owns and operates the last dairy farm in Davis County. Any of UDOT's final three options would put him out of business, Hamblin said.
"We have thousands of kids come through our farm every year to learn how food is produced," Hamblin said. "A lot of them don't even know what a dairy cow looks like."
Those routes would also cut wide swaths through the area's long-standing 400-acre Black Island Farms.
Councilman Doug Peterson said he favors the rejected Bluff Road option, "although a part of me says go as far west as you can."
"What's best for the city? I don't know if that's a fair question," Peterson said, noting many residents will be impacted in different ways depending on the route chosen.
Randy Jefferies, project manager for UDOT, said the agency is thrilled to get so much feedback and will review the comments to further refine their alternatives.
"Our overall goal is to minimize impacts to everything," Jefferies said, "not only the natural environment but also the community."
Much of the resident outcry over the corridor has skirted the issue of the wetlands that border the Great Salt Lake. But Sierra Club Western region representative Marc Heileson has participated in stakeholder discussions for several months, he said.
"We consider the Great Salt Lake's ecosystem of the utmost importance to protect," Heileson said, noting that the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) identified it as a key stop for migratory birds to refuel and breed.
UDOT's three alternatives seriously impact these wetlands through Davis County, Heileson said, along with some of the state's last and best farmland.
"We need to take a step back — and do a better job of getting an alignment that not only protects our ecosystem but also integrates with transit," Heileson said.
Last week, Gov. Gary Herbert signed HB399, a new law that requires plaintiffs who sue UDOT or other select state agencies to take out a bond that would pay damages if their legal action fails.
Heileson questioned the measure's constitutionality and criticized the potential costs to the state if such a challenge is raised in court. But he said it will not affect the Sierra Club because most of its litigation is filed in federal court.
"That bill affects a neighborhood group or the family farmer more than us," Heileson said.
See Syracuse's strategy
O Download a PDF of Syracuse's preferred option.
> tinyurl.com/c3option