"There's somewhat of a discrepancy between the numbers there, and that could be the way the question is worded," Hudachko said. "But I think the message is still clear (in both polls). You've got a majority in all three of those counties of people who support that project, and you've got a supermajority in the county (Davis) that is impacted directly."

The Sierra Club, the leading opponent of the highway, has not yet conducted its own opinion survey. But that's something it would like to do soon, said Sierra Club spokesman Marc Heileson.

"That is something we would like to have because I think the biggest problem we have with the UDOT polling is there was really only one choice — it was Legacy or not," Heileson said.

But now there is a "smart growth" alternative, he said. In December, the Sierra Club and Utahns for Better Transportation unveiled their own plan for the narrow Davis County corridor, which includes an emphasis on mass transit and no Legacy. Instead, it proposes an extension of Redwood Road from I-15 to Parrish Lane as an alternative to I-15.

UDOT officials have said that plan just would not work, in part because the Redwood Road corridor could not efficiently handle the amount of traffic expected on the Legacy Parkway. But Heileson said that should be for the public to decide.

He believes much of the public's support for the Legacy comes from a concern about the lack of a viable north-south alternative roadway should I-15 be closed down, either for emergency reasons or for reconstruction as UDOT plans in the future. The "smart growth" alternative provides that safety valve, but does not encourage sprawl, Heileson said.

"This is a frustrating impasse," Heileson said of the current debate over the Legacy Parkway. "And that's why we think this compromise vision of the smart growth alternative is a way to get us past this."

If the public had a chance to see how commuter rail technology works in the corridor before a decision is made on Legacy, he said, perhaps opinion polls would reflect a different attitude. The Utah Transit Authority hopes to have commuter rail operating between Salt Lake and Weber counties by 2007.

"People are sitting in traffic and frustrated, and commuter rail is not built. But it's coming. And bus rapid transit in on the plan but is not built yet," Heileson said. "That's where we need to start focusing is to get that train in and provide these options so people have another choice to go to. And we think that would (create) a large shift" in public opinion.

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E-mail: zman@desnews.com