To build, or not to build, a bypass to reroute highway traffic around Heber City? The Utah Department of Transportation is in a years-long process of answering that question. Among those most impacted by any changes to U.S. Highway 40, which runs right through downtown, are local businesses.
“I think a lot of the businesses on Main Street would say, ‘We need traffic to slow down, we need people to be able to park and we need people to be able to actually explore the downtown,’” says Dallin Koecher, Heber Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director.
A proposal he supports is to build a western bypass around Heber City, which he says would reduce traffic and make Main Street more pedestrian-friendly. However, he says he believes a widespread priority for residents is to keep from building in the North Fields, which consist of thousands of acres of farmland open space north of downtown.
The chamber and Heber City officials have advocated for evolving the downtown to feature walking districts. Better parking access and a safer environment for pedestrians, they say, would be a way to promote clusters of shopping and dining establishments.
“We might lose truck traffic, but they're just passing through anyways,” Koecher says. “But, maybe if we create a slower place where people can actually get out and walk, we're gonna create a destination where businesses can thrive and the economy will ripple from that Main Street.”
But not all businesses favor that approach.
Amanda Pensis, owner of Boutique 1921, says she used to fully support the idea of building a bypass. She says while she may not speak for the majority, she now wonders if a bypass would drive away potential customers for her clothes and accessories.
“I think there's pros and cons on both sides,” says Pensis. “Do I love the trucks? No, but do I love the traffic? I kind of do. I don't want everybody leaving Main Street and driving elsewhere necessarily, because then that means that my business isn't being seen.”
Pensis also adds that she comes from a big city and is used to traffic, as well as ways to work with busy roads like pedestrian walkways. She also points out that her business model is balanced between online and in-person sales, and her current focus is to increase local customers.
The store first opened on Main Street in 2020. This Wednesday is the grand opening of its new location four doors down, next door to Chick’s Cafe.
Holiday Lanes owner Jan Gines says her bowling alley also benefits from the traffic. She says if it were up to her, she would leave local roads the way they are.
Nicole Ferguson is the owner of Mountain Refined Furnishings and Flooring and a member of the Community Alliance for Main Street. She says residents largely avoid Main Street and hopes reduced traffic would bring locals back to the many shops like hers there.
“Probably the bypass would be the best thing, just so that our town could become quaint,” Ferguson says. “We could bring back sidewalk sales again and activities up and down Main Street so that the businesses could be more a part of the community, a bigger part than what they already are.”
In its current phase of the study, UDOT is reviewing local and environmental impacts, feasibility and public input for 13 proposals it released last October. Those include several bypass routes west and east of town, as well as modifications to Main Street and neighborhood roads intended to reduce traffic.
UDOT has said it will reveal a smaller selection of alternatives still under consideration later this spring. After it does so, it will hold a public comment period for feedback on the new release. Only UDOT, not local governments, will have authority to make the final decision.
For more on the project, visit hebervalleyeis.udot.utah.gov.
