Residents in Mountain View Corridor path brace for change

Jewel Hodson has lived 30 years in her West Valley neighborhood, raising her children near three local schools and living near open space where her family can keep horses.

She loves where she lives, but she says the area will all change one day. Sometime in the next five, 10 or 20 years, the Mountain View Corridor is planned to be built either through her neighborhood, near 5800 West and 3800 South, or through neighborhoods near 7200 West. The highway would stretch across western Salt Lake County into northern Utah County.

If the state chooses 5800 West, Hodson's three-story Cape Cod-style home will be demolished, along with the homes of her neighbors.

"It really is like a small town being destroyed, and the people left behind have to live with the damage," Hodson said.

Depending where the highway is built, as many as 384 homes and businesses in Salt Lake and Utah counties may need to be relocated. On Wednesday, the Utah Department of Transportation released a 2,220-page study that lists the addresses of properties it will likely need to buy for the road.

The study, called a draft environmental impact statement, is the first time UDOT has released a comprehensive list of addresses where property could be taken. The study also looks at factors such as the "purpose and need" for the road and gives detailed descriptions about different routes where the road could go.

UDOT is accepting public comment on the study until Dec. 24. After reviewing the comment, the agency will draft a finalized study, open it for public comment, and then submit the study to the federal government for approval.

Because UDOT has not received federal approval to build Mountain View, the agency cannot legally use eminent domain to purchase properties for the road, or even solicit offers from residents. Instead, residents must willingly offer to sell their homes.

However, UDOT only has a limited amount of money to buy properties from willing sellers, said Teri Newell, a UDOT project manager overseeing the Mountain View study.

"There is no funding for the vast majority of it," she said.

Jay Harding, who lives next to Hodson in West Valley, said he has resigned himself to the fact that his home will be taken as a result of the road. His problem is not knowing when the road will be built, and whether he can sell his home if he wants to move before Mountain View comes in.

Harding says he considers himself lucky, however, because the state would buy his property. He doesn't have to stay behind.