CENTERVILLE -- Six local governments are facing the question of who will maintain the 14-mile Legacy Park Trail this spring.
A 12-month warranty period the Utah Department of Transportation included on its trail construction ended in November.
Officials from five cities and Davis County are now trying to figure out how to delegate responsibility for trail maintenance and upkeep.
"The cities did not know they would be expected to maintain the Legacy Parkway Trail when the Legacy Parkway was constructed," said Centerville City Manager Steve Thacker.
"Now we're in this limbo where UDOT has officially said they're not responsible for it anymore and cities have not officially accepted responsibility."
Thacker reported on two field trips he participated in with UDOT officials and other city managers to assess maintenance requirements and deficiencies in the trail's construction.
Damaged light fixtures in overpass tunnels and a continuing irrigation issue have plagued the trail, which officials say could require up to two full-time employees to monitor and maintain.
UDOT hasn't made any decisions regarding issues related to the construction of the trail and its structures.
"We'll continue to work with them as needed," said UDOT spokesman Vic Saunders.
"We will probably meet again with those cities in May or thereabouts to continue to address construction-related issues and those things that happened because of construction that haven't been rectified."
An interlocal agreement submitted by city managers from Centerville, Farmington, Woods Cross, West Bountiful and North Salt Lake to UDOT last year was rejected.
That move is forcing city managers to revisit their respective councils for direction on how much maintenance the cities should be responsible for and how they want to share costs.
Centerville officials agree trail maintenance is an important recreational aspect of the city and concede to at least partial responsibility for maintenance.
"We're willing to explore any and all options to get us to the most economical and effective way of getting this done," Thacker said.
Possible solutions being discussed include an agreement among the five cities and Davis County to at least partially maintain the trail.
Also being considered is an agreement that each city would be responsible for the portion of trail in its jurisdiction.
Thacker said he wants to explore an agreement among the cities in the interest of preserving uniformity and consistency on the trail, as well as ease of bidding and granting contracts for repavement and other large-scale projects.
City managers are awaiting a reply from UDOT officials on what, if any, steps will be taken regarding existing trail deficiencies.
In the meantime, Thacker and the other city managers are asking their elected officials to offer appropriate support, including applying pressure on UDOT to accept a shared arrangement with cities along the trail regarding repair and maintenance as quickly as possible.
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