Pignanelli: Utah Democrats are perceived as the Greg Ostertag of the state Legislature. Usually, the Jazz player suffers criticism for not contributing to activity on the court; but an occasional game is won because he blocks a shot. Republican support for the litigation resolution was weak, and legislative Democrats had the rare opportunity to control events of the special session. Continually excluded from the process, the minority caucus could have justified defeating the settlement. Instead, the rational use of their atypical power is evidence that including Democrats in future policy considerations will benefit all Utahns.

Webb: The Legacy Parkway vote was an example of purely pragmatic, matter-of-fact politics winning over idealism and ideology. It was a classic compromise, with both sides giving some ground. We get the highway, we get it on the preferred alignment, and we avoid potentially years of further delay and a hundred million dollars or so of increased costs. The most unfortunate provision of the compromise is the ban on large trucks, which I don't think makes any sense environmentally or any other way. But dropping the truck ban was an absolute deal-killer for the environmentalists.

Two northern Utah lawmakers, Sheldon Killpack and Stuart Adams, deserve a lot of credit for bringing the Legislature around and serving their constituents (like me) who commute daily into the big city.

There is now talk in some conservative circles of retribution, of somehow punishing environmentalists for forcing the compromise. I have no sympathy for the Sierra Club or other radical environmental groups. But let's not do something that will end up hurting Utah commuters.

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Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. One of his clients includes the national engineering firm, HNTB Corp., which may work on the Legacy Parkway. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake mayor, Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. Pignanelli's spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is executive director of the state Department of Administrative Services in the Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. administration. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.