DAVIS COUNTY — With a final decision on the West Davis Corridor expected before the year is out, the state continues to pick up land in their preferred path for the controversial highway.

The Utah Department of Transportation has just over $6 million obligated to buying seven pieces of property within the current corridor alignment, according to agenda documents from a December 2016 Utah Transportation Commission meeting.

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The pending acquisition deals have all been approved by the transportation commission and, if finalized, will be set aside to preserve space for the four-lane, north-south, 20-mile highway. The nearly $600 million road would traverse through western Davis and Weber counties, from Farmington to West Haven, serving as an extension of the Legacy Parkway and an alternative route to I-15.

UDOT

In an email to the Standard-Examiner, UDOT spokesman John Gleason said the money for the acquisitions comes from the Marda Dillree Corridor Preservation Fund. Gleason said the fund, which was established by the Legislature in 1996, allows the state to minimize future impacts of the road by acquiring property on a willing-seller/willing-buyer basis.

The money in the fund comes mainly from a state tax on rental cars and is reimbursed by projects as they become funded, Gleason said. The balance of the fund changes from month to month based on tax revenues and project reimbursements.

Though the fund is used for projects throughout the state and isn’t specific to the West Davis Corridor, it will continue to be available for the project as a perpetual fund.

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Since 2005, UDOT has purchased dozens of properties along several of the proposed alternatives in the West Davis Corridor study area through the corridor preservation fund.

And though they have bought hundreds of acres of land worth millions of dollars, UDOT insists the purchases will not affect the final placement of the road. 

“This is a regular, ongoing process and does not influence the outcome of the Environmental Impact Statement,” Gleason said in the email. “Any properties acquired through corridor preservation that are not ultimately needed to build the West Davis Corridor can be sold.”

UDOT expects to release the final impact statement in the spring, with a final Record of Decision by the Federal Highway Administration following in the summer, Gleason said.

Gleason said construction schedules for the road depend entirely on funding — and the construction of the road hasn’t been funded yet.

You can reach reporter Mitch Shaw at mishaw@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @mitchshaw23 or like him on Facebook.