Project: Legacy Parkway

In the early 1990s, the state of Utah studied different freeways within the region to identify the best way to improve travelers’ mobility along Interstate 15 and other roads. The solution proposed by UDOT, UTA, and the local community was to widen I-15, improve commuter rail access in the area, and add a six-lane expressway parallel to I-15, to provide improved access between Davis and Salt Lake Counties.

In 1996, the newly elected governor Mike Levitt proposed building the Legacy Expressway from Davis County to Ogden City on the west side of Weber and Davis Counties. The concept of a highway west of Davis County has existed since the 1960s, but the project had been abandoned mainly because of concerns regarding its path crossing the Great Salt Lake wetlands and potential environmental problems. In 1997, Davis County re-considered the Legacy Parkway project with a revised alignment that would still improve access for commuters who travel daily between Davis and Salt Lake Counties, while reducing its potential adverse impacts to the protected wetlands.

The construction of the Legacy Parkway project was challenged because of its proximity to the protected wetlands of the Great Salt Lake. Potential hazards of the initial plan to wildlife and wetlands near the Salt Lake led to the involvement of the Sierra Club Foundation. As one of the largest environmental preservation organizations in the world, Sierra Club works with politicians to promote environmentally friendly and sustainable policies. To reduce the environmental impacts of this project, a compromise was reached between the state of Utah and Sierra Club, resulting in reduced road speeds (to reduce vehicle emissions and noise) and banning of trucks (to reduce vehicle emissions) on the highway, except in emergencies. To support these environmentally-oriented compromises, the project was reduced from a six-lane expressway to a four-lane parkway. This ensured reduced traffic volumes and speed, lowering potential hazards to the surrounding wildlife.

Construction of the Legacy Parkway started in 2001, but was halted after a federal appeals court ruled that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was incomplete, citing that alternative routes less harmful to the wetlands were not included in the study. One of the issues in the original EIS was related to the route alignment in Centerville, as the road plans for Legacy Parkway were further to the west and close to the wetlands. Therefore, a supplemental EIS (SEIS), completed in 2005, changed the alignment of the Legacy Parkway and increased the area to be part of the Legacy Nature Preserve on the west side of the route. Also, a trail system parallel to the Legacy Parkway was added to promote walking and biking.

Opposition from the Sierra Club and local communities primarily emphasized that the original Legacy Parkway alignment would have taken away or destroyed farms that have been in the same families for up to five generations, and endanger habitats of migratory birds. Eventually, the state of Utah and the Sierra Club, acting on behalf of groups opposing the entire Legacy Highway project, officially signed a compromise. Part of the agreement was to reduce the Legacy Highway from an initially proposed six-lane expressway to a four-lane parkway. Other changes to the original proposal included no billboards along the route, no trailer or trucks allowed on the Parkway (except in cases of emergency), and a 55mph speed limit. The speed limit would maintain the scenic parkway character of the route, decrease pollution, and increase safety for users of the trail path. Construction resumed in 2006 and was completed in 2008, at the cost of approximately $685M (in 2008 dollars) and a length of 11.5 miles.