Panel addresses concerns

The state Highway Jurisdictional Transfer Task Force was created earlier this year with the passage of SB25 during the 2005 Legislature. The task force will hold a total of eight meetings before November. Tuesday's meeting was the second.

Goals of the task force are threefold:

• Define roads to be transferred.

• Identify a funding solution.

• Create a time line for transfer.

During Tuesday's meeting, local government officials and the public were asked to share concerns about a list of roads with potential for transfer. The list was created by the state. Top concerns — as outlined in a report by the Utah Association of Counties, and echoed by the League of Cities and Towns — include:

• Lack of equipment, staff or maintenance facilities to maintain some roads.

• Some roads on the list are miles away from other county roads.

• The list was generated from a "top-down" approach.

• No funding has yet been attached to roads that may be transferred.

• Some roads require "major repair."