The Heber City Council met with UDOT during its work session Tuesday, March 5, to discuss land conservation and the long-anticipated bypass road.
Leaders around Wasatch County have been waiting for a route announcement since June 2022, when UDOT released five possibilities to divert traffic away from Heber’s Main Street.
UDOT previously planned to make the big reveal this spring after conducting an environmental impact study. But now the decision has been pushed back to the end of 2024.
Regional project manager Craig Hancock told the Heber City Council UDOT is in a holding pattern because the road will need to handle more traffic than originally thought, according to a new travel demand model.
“We found that there was more volume on North [U.S.] 40 than what we initially assumed from the previous model,” he said. “It was significant enough that it suggests that the three alternatives that run along North 40 would not meet purpose and need as we have it. And so obviously that’s a big dilemma for us, that’s a big concern.”
Hancock said none of the routes will be eliminated, but some may be revised to take the higher demand into account. The area between 900 North and River Road would be most affected.
He said multiple factors are contributing to the change in models.
“I think part of it is MIDA and all the growth that’s happening there,” he said. “It’s also some of the development that’s happening within the city in the north, [U.S.] 40 on the east side.”
Councilmember Aaron Cheatwood said he was concerned the new data left fewer options.
“Everything that’s planned on North 40 was planned already, that’s not new,” he said. “This gets harder and harder the longer we wait. And these conservation opportunities potentially don’t come back to us if we wait.”
The future of the North Fields has been a tension point for county and city leaders as they wait for UDOT’s decision. Heber councilmembers expressed Tuesday they want to conserve as much of the North Fields as they can without impeding UDOT’s freedom to build any of the five routes.
A Wasatch County Council public hearing about conservation easements for some 200 acres of the agricultural land is Wednesday, March 6, at 6 p.m.
