From Deseret News archives:

Salt Lake County leaders oppose toll on new road

Published: Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008 1:19 a.m. MDT
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Salt Lake County leaders are dead set against tolling the Mountain View Corridor.

On Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Council will consider a joint resolution with Mayor Peter Corroon urging lawmakers to find other funding options for the west-side highway. Several west-side cities have already passed similar resolutions.

"The west side has helped build all the other roads, so why should the west side be punished by having a toll road just for them?" Council Chairman Michael Jensen said. "I just think it's not fair to the west side of the valley."

Lawmakers are scratching their heads trying to figure out a way to fund Mountain View Corridor, with a price tag at $2 billion-plus. The 44-mile highway is planned to stretch from I-80 in western Salt Lake County to northern Utah County.

The Utah Department of Transportation studied tolling as a funding option at the behest of the state Legislature, said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton. The study, now complete, is included in an environmental impact study of the road, but tolling is not something UDOT is pushing for, Easton said.

It's a concept that's been on the shelf for more than a year that will ultimately be decided by the Legislature.

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Corroon said lawmakers can come up with other ideas to pay for the Mountain View Corridor, like a gas tax or additional federal funds. UDOT's toll analysis said funding will likely be a combination of many tools, like a sales tax, gas tax, vehicle registration fees and possibly tolling.

Corroon said funding for roads should be an "equitable system."

"We just don't feel like one area should be stuck with paying for the burden of everyone," Corroon said. "It would be a disgrace if we toll the roads on one side of the valley when we don't toll the roads in other parts of the valley."

West-side lawmakers are also leery of tolling Mountain View.

Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, recently told UDOT officials at the Transportation Interim Committee, "You're not going to toll."

More information on the Mountain View Corridor can be found at www.udot.utah.gov/mountainview.


E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com

Recent comments

Corroon is just being reasonable. There is nothing wrong with toll...

Re: Give Me A Break | Sept. 3, 2008 at 11:58 a.m.

I certainly agree that toll roads are a VERY poor idea. However if...

JD McKenzie | Sept. 1, 2008 at 5:25 p.m.

I understand UDOT is thinking of turning the HOV lanes in Salt Lake...

mpetrie98 | Aug. 31, 2008 at 9:02 p.m.

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