If your daily commute requires you to travel I-15 through southern Davis County, you probably don't want to hear that the Legacy Parkway would have been completed by now, had the project not been halted by a legal challenge filed in 2001.

Transportation planners believe they have satisfied the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals' order that the Utah Department of Transportation review five issues related to construction of the 14-mile highway in southern Davis County. The reviews, which included issues such as a narrower right-of-way and impacts on wildlife, resulted in few changes from the original environmental impact statement. Transportation planners hope that the supplemental environmental impact statement, or SEIS, will satisfy the court's requirements and allow construction of the project to begin anew once the proper permits are in hand. Best-case scenario, construction of the highway would not begin until spring 2006 and be completed by late 2008 or early 2009.

UDOT officials estimate the project will cost at least $570 million, a $100 million increase over previous estimates. The price escalation is attributed to sharp increases in the cost of materials, the project's three-year delay, and anxiety on the part of potential bidders that the project could again be interrupted by legal challenges. Meanwhile, demand for the highway has grown over the past three years. UDOT opinion polls show 86 percent of Davis County residents, 81 percent of Weber County residents and 63 percent of Salt Lake County residents want the road to be built.

Indeed, this project is long overdue.

But as UDOT embarks on a 60-day public comment period on the SEIS, opposition to the Legacy Parkway is alive and well. The Sierra Club and Utahns for Better Transportation say their alternative "Smart Growth Initiative" can save $200 million. It emphasizes light rail, bus and commuter rail as well as widening I-15 to 10 lanes along some segments in Davis County. In addition, the groups propose that UDOT build a road that extends Redwood Road from I-215 and heads north to Parrish Lane at I-15, which would establish a second corridor from Davis County to Salt Lake County.

It sounds good in theory, especially the lower price tag, but transportation officials say the groups' numbers don't wash. Transit projects will carry just 6 percent of the transportation load in southern Davis County, which isn't enough to reduce the need for the Legacy Parkway.

One very compelling aspect of the Legacy Parkway is a 2,098-acre nature preserve to be created along the project's western borders. This land will be protected in perpetuity. If the project cannot be undertaken, the land would go up for sale, presumably for development. That would be the worst of all worlds: more residences and businesses, insufficient infrastructure to accommodate them and more impacts upon migratory birds.

The most logical plan is to move ahead with the long-studied and carefully planned Legacy Parkway.