Davis residents want Legacy — now

FARMINGTON — The message was clear: Davis County residents want the Legacy Parkway. And they want it now.

At a meeting Friday sponsored by the Utah Department of Transportation, more than 100 people stood and voiced frustration about the three-year delay of construction on the controversial roadway.

About 500 others were in attendance, wearing orange stickers reading "Build Legacy Now" and proclaiming their support with pointed jabs at Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and the Sierra Club — backers of a successful lawsuit filed in 2001 that halted construction of the road.

"We are spending money that we ought not to be spending," said Davis County Commissioner Dannie McConkie. "Let's stop fooling around and wasting money and build this thing."

While overwhelmingly outnumbered, opponents of the 14-mile roadway were vocal in their support of a different alternative: "Transit First."

"This is all about choice," said Bob Adler, a University of Utah law professor and Legacy opponent. "This is about what we want the Wasatch Front to look like. Do we want a sprawling Los Angeles?"

In late December, opponents of Legacy presented a "Smart Growth" alternative to Legacy that they say would cost less, destroy fewer wetlands and also relieve congestion. It's a viable alternative and something that would stand up in a future court challenge of the parkway, says Marc Heileson, Sierra Club regional representative.

"It's a better vision," he said.

But Davis residents say they've had enough of the delay.

"I feel very strongly about Legacy being built," said Layton resident Ken Rackham, who came with his wife and daughter to comment on the new environmental study of Legacy Parkway. "They've wasted your money and my money on the delays."

In November 2001, the 10th Circuit Court in Denver put a stop to construction of Legacy after a successful lawsuit by the Sierra Club, Utahns for Better Transportation and Anderson.

The ruling: UDOT needed to be more thorough in its environmental impact statement, a study of the project's environmental impact.

Five issues needed to be examined closer: Width of the road, wildlife impact, location, integration of highway and transit and "sequencing," a decision about whether Legacy, an expanded Interstate 15, or commuter rail should be built first.

Three years later, with a $3 million supplemental study in hand, UDOT director John Njord says the road is ready to be built.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Highway Administration — which administered the environmental study — say the new study should stand up to any subsequent challenge.