Asked whether the group would sue over the Bonanza decision, he said the Sierra Club has not decided but is looking closely at the matter.

As for the Mountain View Corridor, Cox contended that the proposed highway "is really a proposal for failure," with its eight lanes of traffic. He charged that the project would encourage urban sprawl and therefore increase traffic congestion. Those traffic woes would require UDOT to put in a mass-transit system in about 25 years, he predicted.

The Sierra Club urges that state transportation planners "go to transit first," he said.

Cox also expressed concern that the planned route for the Utah highway "cuts right through two elementary schools and one high school" and is close to a junior high school. Scientific studies have shown that children who live close to freeways are more likely to suffer childhood leukemia and other cancers, he said.

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