"The delay gave UDOT the chance to evolve into projects like this," said Angelo Papastamos, context-sensitive solutions director for UDOT.

Around 2003, in the heat of the Legacy litigation, UDOT began trying to be more aware of environmental and community concerns on all its projects, said Papastamos, in part to avoid future lawsuits. The Mountain View Corridor is one example: Envision Utah was hired to facilitate meetings between UDOT, city officials, environmentalists and others to talk about plans for that road.

But Papastamos said that some contrarians still complain about the environmentally-sensitive approach: "If you go outside the department, certainly there are. Within the department, certainly, but it's few and far between."

As construction progresses during the next two years, Legacy project manager John Thomas says crews will be trained to be aware of environmental factors. The contractor will be required to hire monitors to look for nesting birds and ensure that proper erosion controls are in place. Wetlands located directly in the road's path will also be watched.

But the 2,225-acre nature preserve is the focus of most of UDOT's environmental efforts. Under the federal Clean Water Act, UDOT is required to restore and create wetlands within the preserve to compensate for the loss of wetlands elsewhere from the highway's construction. The settlement took that one step further, requiring UDOT to study how the road and nearby development affect wildlife and habitat in the area.

The agency estimates that less than 100 acres, located directly in Legacy's path, will be destroyed as a result of the road. At least 500 acres of wetlands, located north and west of the highway, will be indirectly impacted from noise and pollution from the road, according to a management plan for the preserve.

In January last year, a team of environmental specialists — the UDOT Collaborative Design Team — began preparing a master plan for the preserve. The plan was finished last December and now the group, led by an environmental-consulting company, SWCA, is adding details about water, habitat and animal management in the preserve. Public access is also being addressed.

SWCA consultants bill UDOT hourly for their work. They are paid out of the $685 million project budget for the Legacy Parkway and Preserve.

Brooks Carter, a SWCA consultant and a former top regulator with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the nature preserve will be a buffer to protect the Great Salt Lake from encroaching development.