In 1997, Utah lawmakers ended a two-year study of whether to transfer control of some state roads to local governments.

The result: Time and taxpayer money spent but no action taken.

Tuesday, lawmakers and other state and local officials began a second study of the issue. Their goal is to draft legislation by November that mandates the transfer of some state-managed routes to local control and vice versa.

Why? Studies indicate local governments can maintain and manage some roads at less cost and greater efficiency than the state.

"It has become clear to me both in terms of efficiency — and the second reason would be economy — that it might make sense to have a transfer," said Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights, co-chair of the Highway Jurisdictional Transfer Task Force.

How much a transfer would hurt or help the state and local governments has yet to be determined.

"The hard part is the budget," said Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Hudachko. "We haven't had those discussions yet."

During Tuesday's meeting, UDOT presented the task force with a preliminary list of 1,332 miles of state roads that could be transferred. UDOT manages about 6,000 miles of state roads; the proposed transfer list includes 22.7 percent of those miles. The roads are in 26 of Utah's 29 counties.

City and county representatives were quiet during the meeting, giving slight indication of opposition expressed in past debates. While not opposed to accepting state roads, local government representatives are concerned they will receive little money to maintain the routes.

The condition of roads is also a worry, in addition to the cost of rebuilding former state roads.

Quality may be sacrificed if limited funds are transferred with the roads.

"Just because we can do it cheaper doesn't mean we can do it better," said Lincoln Shurtz, legislative analyst for the League of Cities and Towns. He also suggested the committee create criteria to guide future road transfers — something that is initiated piecemeal by state and local entities.

In turn, Shurtz, and Brent Gardner with the Utah Association of Counties, were asked by the committee to meet with local entities and create a list of local roads that could be added to the state's roads.

On June 28, the jurisdictional transfer task force will meet again. UDOT will present a new prioritized list of possible roads to transfer and the task force may begin reviewing those roads one by one.

That review will include a study of the purpose of a road: Does it move people through a region or is it simply for access? If the road is rural, and rarely used, does it need maintenance levels the state provides? Also, how the road is funded will be part of the discussion.

"It's going to be an arduous process," said Carlos Braceras, UDOT deputy director. "You heard, we're not going to make the decisions on a group level. It's going to be road by road."

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com