HILL AIR FORCE BASE — The lack of a west-side highway could be a strike against Hill Air Force Base as it tries to survive the Pentagon's latest round of base closings.

The absence of an I-15 alternative hurt the base in the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure and could do the same again this year, former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, told the Deseret Morning News Monday.

"We argued, 'Well, we're going to build something. We're going to call it the West Davis Highway,'" Hansen said of the '95 BRAC. "We said, 'Oh, it's going to come.' We didn't know the Sierra Club would screw it up."

Not quite, the Sierra Club says.

"It's pretty tough to believe that a highway in south Davis County would affect a military base," said Marc Heileson, regional representative for the Sierra Club.

Heileson and other Legacy foes are denouncing Legacy and pushing the "Citizens' Smart Growth Alternative." The transit-first plan calls for Redwood road to be extended into Davis County in addition to construction of commuter rail, bus rapid transit and light rail.

Supporters call the plan environmentally sound and say it would save $300 million, Heileson said. Utah Department of Transportation officials say Legacy could cost as much as $680 million to build.

If built, the 14-mile highway will run from I-215 in North Salt Lake to Farmington along the eastern edge of the Great Salt Lake.

UDOT already started building the highway in November 2001, but construction was halted after the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily shut down the project after a Sierra Club lawsuit raised environmental questions.

Transportation access to military bases is just one issue BRAC commissioners must weigh when deciding which base to close, Hansen said.

During the 1995 BRAC rounds, the base closure commission's staff pointed out that Hill Air Force Base had higher rankings in all categories than the other four air logistics centers. The lack of an I-15 alternative was one of few negative points in the base's ranking.

Building the Legacy Parkway is a matter of national security, Davis County Commissioner Dannie McConkie said.

"It's for not only movement of people, but movement of military machines and materials to ensure this nation's secure safety," McConkie said. "We've always worried about having an alternative way to get from the north to the south end of Davis County."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said this "mother of all BRACs" will shut down a quarter of the military's infrastructure. In total, 425 bases could be closed or scaled back, which could save $7 billion annually, the Defense Department reported.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert recommended Hansen for the commission that will ultimately decide which bases to close.

President Bush will nominate the nine-member BRAC commission on or before March 15.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com