PAYSON — Utah Department of Transportation officials will be looking for public involvement as it begins work on an environmental impact statement for the I-15 corridor from downtown Salt Lake City to Santaquin, a distance of 65 miles.

The three-year, $6.7 million study is a required process before the state can seek federal approval and funding for an array of proposed transportation options that range from commuter rail from Payson to Salt lake City to rapid transit bus travel between the Brigham Young University campus and the East Bay area, a step above express bus service.

In the meantime, adding an HOV lane from the Alpine interchange to Utah Valley State College in Orem could get under way in about a year-and-a-half, project manager Merrell Jolley said. The lanes will be constructed in the existing median, with a lane for both north and south travel.

HOV lanes are currently being installed from the 10600 South interchange in Salt Lake County to the Alpine interchange.

Picking up where two earlier studies left off in 2002 — an I-15 study from Brigham City to Payson and a Utah County I-15 management plan — three public open houses will be held — today at Murray High School, Thursday at Larsen Elementary in Spanish Fork and Saturday at the McKay Events Center on the Utah Valley State College campus in Orem. More detail about the project is on the UDOT Web site: www.udot.utah.gov/i15utahcounty.gov.

Continuing residential growth in the area is driving the need for improved transportation systems, Jolley said. By 2030 Salt Lake County's population could grow 60 percent, while Utah County could boost its population by 84 percent.

"We need public input (for residents) to tell us what they think we should do," UDOT public information officer Geoff Dupaix said.

"They're the users of the system."

Thousands of colorful postcards listing the open house schedule have already been sent to property owners along the freeway route and to people who attended previous open houses.

Once written, the environmental impact statement goes to the Federal Highway Administration for approval, Jolley said. No one yet knows what the improved I-15 corridor will cost — "that depends on what we choose," Jolley said.

"That's what the study will determine," Dupaix said.

"It will cost a lot," Jolley said.

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