Bridge debate creates waves

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Jolean Domson spends 90 minutes every day commuting 20 miles from her home in Saratoga Springs to her job at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

Most of that time is spent on a frustrating few miles of one of Utah's busiest — and slowest — roads: Main Street in Lehi.

Gavin Whiting, another Saratoga Springs resident, calls the rush-hour traffic "a nightmare." Whiting, 42, has a daughter who battles the traffic each night on her way to work in Orem.

But unlike Domson, 39, who says a bridge across Utah Lake would be beneficial for residents' safety and time, Whiting doesn't think saving a few minutes in travel time is worth sacrificing the beauty of the lake.

These are just a few of the concerns Leon Harward and his group, Utah Crossing Inc., will confront in the next year as they seek government approval to build a $600 million, privately funded bridge across Utah Lake.

Discussion of building a bridge across the lake has been on the table for decades, Harward said, but it's never moved beyond the discussion phase.

Many government officials agree that such a bridge is necessary — or will be in the future. However, funding for the project does not exist and it may not rank as a priority until the roads literally cannot handle the Cedar Valley any longer, said Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork.

Sumsion said he's been in favor of building a bridge across Utah Lake for several years.

"I am just looking for someone who has the crazy vision I have to build a road before there's a crisis," he said.

In the past nine years, the Cedar Valley on the west side of Utah Lake has grown by 50,000 people, Sumsion said, and it's expected to top 500,000 by 2030. A new east-west corridor will be needed to handle that growth, he said.

Sierra Club regional representative Marc Heileson strongly opposes a bridge over Utah Lake, saying "it will destroy a tremendous resource to the community."

Heileson said he believes the bridge would nullify everything the Utah Lake Commission has done to improve the lake. Sediments will be stirred up, which may harm the habitat, he said. Heileson also is worried about what an earthquake could do to the lake if a bridge is built.