February 17, 2014 | Standard Examiner | By Bryon Saxton |
KAYSVILLE — Buying land to build the proposed $587 million, 20-mile West Davis Corridor roadway continues, even though Utah Department of Transportation officials emphasize there is no guarantee the north-south road planned to stretch from Farmington to West Haven will ever be built.
The state Transportation Commission has been discussing the purchase of 45 acres of undeveloped land at 1600 S. Angel St. in west Kaysville for corridor preservation.
Roughly the cost to the state to buy the land is $3 million, according to Randy Jefferies, project manager for the West Davis Corridor Environmental Impact Statement.
The property is co-owned by Scott Herschi and Tod Jones, who approached the state requesting it buy their land after they discovered the proposed road route “impacts” their property, Jefferies said.
The state looking into buying the property for fair market value before it develops is a win-win for the state, the property owners and the taxpayers.
Having a willing seller, the commission wanted to consider the action now, rather than wait until homes were built on the land, Jefferies said.
Herschi and Jones approached state road officials indicating that they were being approached by developers, after discovering their property was to be impacted by the proposed alignment of the road, he said.
Where this particular piece of west Kaysville property is located, Jefferies said, the alignment shows only a single route through the area, which would result in the property being impacted should the project move forward.
“It’s an upfront cost, but it is an investment,” Jefferies said of the state’s willingness to look at buying property through the proposed corridor. He said the west Kaysville parcel is “one of many” parcels that will need to be purchased by the state should the project be built.
A final decision as to whether the road will be built, and its exact route, will not be made until the environmental impact study has been completed, which is expected to occur sometime near the end of this year,
Jefferies said.
The funds used to buy the Kaysville parcel are part of an ongoing fund the state has available that is used “wherever the need is in the state” when it comes to corridor preservation, Jefferies said.
Should the West Davis Corridor not be constructed, the state will sell those properties it is in the process of acquiring, he said.
Should the West Davis roadway be built, it would link into the Legacy Parkway, which serves the southern end of Davis County.