Remaining development may depend on the proposed I-15 interchange that would be built in south Layton. Both the city and the Utah Department of Transportation hope it will help ease traffic on roads like Gentile Street, which is heavily affected by growth in the western part of the city.

An interchange in this area would reroute traffic west to Fort Lane and east to Flint Street. While construction could have started as early as this year, it has been delayed until March 2008, Butterfield said.

A proposed Western Access Road would eventually go from the I-15 interchange to a possible Legacy Highway extension to the west. But some residents were not satisfied with an environmental assessment for the road, done by the city in 2004.

The residents hired a lawyer, Jeffrey Appel, to voice their concerns in a November 2004 letter to the Federal Highway Administration in Salt Lake City. They threatened to sue, and their concerns, as well as the threat of legal action, prompted the federal agency to decide in late 2005 that a full environmental impact study was needed.

The highway administration allowed Layton to do the environmental study, which is costing $2 million, said Gary Crane, Layton city attorney.

"If we'd had to litigate the issue, the cost would have been higher," Crane said.

The study, scheduled to be complete in 2008, is examining the social and economic impacts of the road, as well as the physical geography. The earlier environmental assessment done in 2004 was less detailed

"If the city and UDOT would have provided us with alternatives, then we would not have been concerned," said David Lindmeir, one of the residents who had called for the more comprehensive study. The proposed Western Access Road would come within about 200 yards of his home.

The road would be two lanes with a median, with another two lanes for parking on each side of the road. One of the residents' biggest concerns was traffic on the road as children walk to a nearby elementary school.

While the city awaits the results of the study, Alex Jensen, Layton's city manager, said the city was optimistic about the road changes and redevelopment plans. "There's a lot of exciting things down there," he said.

---

E-mail: blee@desnews.com