Owners of the 10,000-acre site, which stretches to the Utah/Arizona border, are the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) and Leucadia, a private firm that plans to build walkable communities in what is now a dry desert landscape.

Tying much of the development between Hurricane and St. George together is the proposed Southern Corridor, a 26-mile, $84 million beltway starting two miles north of the Arizona border on I-15 and looping around to meet U-9 at 2800 West in Hurricane.

The St. George replacement airport is also nearing its final environmental hurdle, which means the $110 million project could get under way within the next year. The new airport site is nestled between I-15 and the proposed Southern Corridor, both southeast of the city.

The new highway would provide access not only to future residential developments but the replacement airport and a whole host of expected aviation-related businesses.

Just last month the Federal Highway Administration and the Utah Department of Transportation released the Record of Decision, which paves the way for construction to begin on the first phase of the Southern Corridor. The Atkinville Interchange is near Sun River, a huge community for active adults located on the southern tip of Bloomington.

Funds for the entire project will come from public and private sources, said UDOT Region 4 spokesman Myron Lee.

"We have $10 million to spend on the Atkinville Interchange, and we need $16 million," said Lee. "We're trying to find $3 million from another source and trying to lower the cost of the project by another $3 million."

Before construction begins on the interchange next summer, two habitat preserves will be fenced off to protect endangered plant species. Once the interchange is completed and open to traffic, it's up to developers to fund most of the $84 million projected price tag for the Southern Corridor highway, he noted.

"At this point we don't have the resources to acquire land or build roads. What we've done is preserve the corridor," Lee said. "Our approach is that it will take a public and private effort to build it."

In other words, it's really up to developers and city officials to make sure the planned corridor is protected and eventually built. That project will certainly take years to complete, although developers are likely to move forward whether the highway is finished or not.

"We're at that crossroads where everything's coming too fast and too hard for the city," said Fawcett. "It could cause problems. What we don't want is for growth to spread out all over the place."

To view UDOT's report on the Southern Corridor, log on to udot.utah.gov/sc.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com