"There's a lot of things that go into building a road," said Adan Carrillo, a UDOT spokesman. "We have to have the environmental studies in place (and find) the impacts to wetlands, environment, businesses and residents."

Jackson believes that more foresight and action on the part of the government entities could have saved the west side from the current travel problems.

"We've been talking about it (another road) and everybody seems to think that Eagle Mountain is this little start-up town and we've been projecting our growth for years and people never believe what we say," Jackson said.

Jackson will head to Washington, D.C., this week to seek federal funds to help with Pony Express Parkway — and Wednesday's storm, though not lucky, will be the perfect example for her.

"(This is) why it needs to be No. 1 on the list," she said.

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E-mail: csmith@desnews.com