Legacy won't rock homes

FARMINGTON — The court-ordered delay of the Legacy Parkway might have frustrated this state's road builders but it delighted Chad Greenhalgh and his neighbors.

It's not that residents of the Clark Lane Historic District oppose construction of the 14-mile, four-lane, limited-access highway. But during the initial environmental and planning work, residents believed their concerns about UDOT's construction of a new State Street bridge near their property were being ignored.

Taking advantage of the postponement, Greenhalgh and his neighbors contacted the Federal Highway Administration and asked for help in formulating an agreement that will protect their Pioneer-era homes from the vibrations expected from pile-driving operations.

The result is a far-reaching agreement that not only establishes a maximum level of vibration to emanate from the construction site but also requires UDOT's contractor to take before-and-after measurements that will detect any damage to more than a dozen historic homes in the area.

"Our neighborhood is really excited about this document," Greenhalgh said. "With the original Legacy Highway planning, that planning didn't really take into account our neighborhood.

"Some of our homes were built in 1847 out of soft adobe brick and we were really worried (the bridge construction) would damage some of our homes. This will help monitor and protect our homes during the construction of this overpass."

The same agreement also established a procedure for dealing with any American Indian or other archaeological sites that may be discovered during construction. Representatives of several Indian tribes have participated in the process, and the agreement recently was signed by Forrest Cuch, director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs.

Cuch says the agreement provides more assurance for the protection of human remains than the proclamation signed when Legacy was first proposed. The National Historic Preservation Act requires such protection of remains and funerary objects.

Over the past year and a half, federal highway officials and Cuch have met to review provisions of the agreement. Meetings have also been held with the Native American Remains Review Committee.

Such work is fairly routine on road construction projects, FHWA and UDOT officials say. But this one was different in its scope and the level of participation by the public.

"There were some special and unique concerns on this project with regards to vibrations, especially for the historical district, and I think the key aspect was the amount of outreach that was done with the residents, understanding their concerns," said Jeff Berna, an environmental specialist in the Salt Lake office of the FHWA.