Utah County legislators say I-15 project is moving forward

A planned rebuilding of I-15 in Utah County is moving forward despite reports that its funding had been pulled, Utah County legislators and city leaders said Saturday.

During his State of the State address on Tuesday, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. announced that he was reinstating road projects put on hold because of the budget shortfall.

"Unfortunately, the media mischaracterized the statement as saying he was not supportive of I-15," said Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem.

Regardless of whether the governor supports the I-15 project, the Legislature has the final say on when or if the project moves ahead, Valentine said. During the 2008 legislative session, the House and Senate voted unanimously on a resolution giving the Utah Department of Transportation authority to start the initial phases of the project.

Valentine said he and other legislators had a private meeting with UDOT executive director John Njord after the governor's report. Njord assured them that the I-15 project had never been stalled and that the future of the project is in the hands of the Legislature, Valentine said.

Njord agreed in an interview Saturday, saying the project was never stopped, just slowed.

"Anticipating that the Legislature would have to cut very deeply into the transportation budget, we slowed things down," Njord said. "Things slowed down, but they never stopped."

With the current legislative session in full swing, the process is back in the hands of the Legislature — at least as far as the current economic situation will allow. In order to move the project out of the planning stages and into action, the Legislature must vote to authorize bonding for construction costs.

Bonding works as long as there's an adequate revenue stream to bond against. Last year, the Legislature gave UDOT that revenue stream in the form of the Transportation Investment Fund, currently set at 8.3 percent of all tax revenue collected.

But that was last year. This year, with the Legislature facing a $1 billion drop in revenue, cuts to state programs and an overall budget of 15 percent less than last year, the TIF could be at risk.

"They are going to have to balance out the needs of the state," Njord said. "If they don't end up having to cut into that revenue stream for other needs, they'll give us the authorization to bond for the project."

The entire I-15 project runs from Bangerter Highway south to Payson, a span of about 40 miles. When UDOT approached the Legislature last year with a budget of more than $5 billion for the entire project, lawmakers asked UDOT to come back with recommendations for finishing the project in phases, according to Njord.

"We have always known this project will probably come in phases," said Rep. Rebecca Lockhart, R-Provo.

With that in mind, UDOT went back to the drawing board and came back with a proposal to start with a 20-mile section in the middle of the project, from American Fork to Spanish Fork, for around $2.6 billion.

Again, that was last year.

"We don't think we'll be able to bond for $2.6 billion," Njord said. "We're thinking it will be around $1.6 billion instead. Depending on the revenue stream available, it really restricts the amount you can bond for."

UDOT is preparing to give state legislators a menu of reconstruction options to choose from in case the TIF is cut and the scope of the project, once again, has to be reduced, Njord said.

"We're going to try and stretch this money as far as we can," he said.

E-MAIL: kkuhn@desnews.com