Kaysville and Farmington UDOT Protest.m4v

* UDOT wanted to make it very clear that the Shepard Connector and Glover/Southern Option are being equally evaluated at this point. One route has not been chosen over the other and both routes will now proceed through a rigorous testing/evaluation to determine which route is UDOT's preferred route. Also, UDOT has not specifically identified at this point the specific route each of the two options will take (meaning that while the general route for each has been preliminarily evaluated at this point, both routes will now be evaluated to see what houses they would take, what path they would follow, etc.). So, it is critical that we provide specific information to UDOT supporting pushing everything farther west. It is not enough or convincing to UDOT to simply criticize one route over the other; rather, we have to provide specifics as to why everything needs to be pushed west. This includes specifics on: (1) the neighborhood division between Destination, Hunters Creek, and Quail Crossing; (2) the kids in Hunters Creek having to walk to Endeavor (and across/over/under the WDC); (3) the lack of neighborhood disruption in the Southern Option; (4) the elimination of the walking path (on the old railroad line) if WDC is destroyed; (5) the problem with expanding the WDC through Quail Crossing/Hunters Creek in the future beyond 250 feet without taking more homes. This is a big issue because it limits future expansion of the WDC if the Shepard Option is chosen. If the Southern Option is chosen, and if it is pushed as far west as possible, this problem does not exist as there is plenty of room to expand; (6) there is a lot of space down by Glovers, enough that the route can be drawn to have minimal impact to homes and no impact to contiguous neighborhoods; (7) the Southern Option does not require putting traffic from the WDC back onto southbound I-15; and (8) while we recognize the need to balance, the Southern Option puts the interests of humans and families over non-wetlands. Any other substantive, distinguishing comments are important.
* UDOT has presented its proposed I-15 interchange on the Shepard Connector to the Federal Highway Administration. The FHWA must approve UDOT's proposal before UDOT can move forward. It calls for four (4) additional lanes east of I-15, with two lanes later verging off to access WDC northbound via a flyover, and with the other two lanes continuing northbound and entering I-15 on the north side of the Shepard Lane bridge. There will also be two additional lanes on the west side of I-15, east of the railroad tracks and west of the far right line on I-15. These lanes will be connected to I-15 by a flyover (that takes the southbound WDC over the three rail lines). UDOT thinks that this proposal will work, although they also stated that specific engineering on the proposal has not been completed (only preliminary). The interchange is not a workable/reasonable option for the following reasons:
o There is not enough room between the far right lane of I-15 and the FrontRunner rail line to add two additional lanes of traffic. You can be the judge of this the next time you cross over Shepard Lane or drive I-15. There is not enough room.
o UDOT says that they are trying to make plans that will accommodate traffic projections in 2040, and they also believe that traffic congestion will triple by 2040. Merging all of WDC traffic onto I-15 today would create a bottleneck - it will only be worse in 2040.
o By merging southbound WDC traffic onto southbound I-15, there is no room for expanding I-15 at any point. The railroad boxes the road in and prevents any expansion. This problem does not exist if everything is pushed west.
o The Shepard Connector option would call for the reengineering/design of the Shepard Lane overpass. UDOT believes that it can add the two additional lanes that will cross under the Shepard overpass without having to alter the bridge. There is not enough room underneath the bridge to accommodate two additional lanes without altering it. If UDOT does have to reengineer the Shepard overpass to accommodate the two additional lanes, and if access to the Shepard overpass is limited/cut off during this process, and if there is construction of the WDC at the same time, how do we get to the east side of I-15?
* UDOT told us that the goal of the WDC is to increase mobility and traffic flow. As they evaluate the two options, they ask themselves which route reduces congestion and increases traffic mobility, and which route minimizes overall impact. We need to provide UDOT with specifics as to why pushing everything west accomplishes this goal.