LAYTON, Utah -- In the next 20 years, west Davis County is expected to boom with housing developments and new roads.
To prepare for the growth, the Utah Department of Transportation is doing a study to see how it can meet the need.
“One thing we are looking at right now are different land use patterns,” said Randy Jefferies, who is one of UDOT’s project managers. “That may help to reduce the traffic demand, which will in the long run help to meet our transportation needs for Utah.”
UDOT is talking with outside groups, including one called the Shared Solution Coalition, which is pushing for a design that would give people more options to use transit and reduce miles on their cars.
“The biggest obstacle is just our feeling that the car is the only way to get around," said the group's co-chair Roger Borgenicht. “As we grow and add another million or two million people around the country, LA is an example, do we want to grow up to be LA? Everyone said no. Well then what are we going to do differently so we don't grow up to be LA?”
UDOT engineers are looking at what the area needs, and what they can afford.
“We have a lot of ideas, but how well do they meet the transportation needs that we have?” Jefferies said.
The project manager said that by the end of the year he expects to have a plan that accommodates the desires of the two counties and 13 cities involved.
If a project does move forward, drivers wouldn't see construction for at least another five years.
