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Show County, City Leaders ReAffirm Stand On Proposed Road West of Lake C. H. Vance, chairman of the Utah State Road Commission, has re-affirmed that the commission intends to build the new interstate inter-state highway east of Utah Lake and that it has no plans at this time for a route west of the lake. He said the recommendation of the traffic subcommittee of the Utah Safety Council that the road be built west of the lake would not receive favorable consideration by the present commission. $ The Bureau of Public Roads, he said, also has "no interest" in a route west of the lake at this time. "Where it is necessary to build a limited access road we try to build it close to the cities involved so tourist business in these cities will be affected as little as possible," pos-sible," he said. Mr. Vance emphasized that the road commission feels the principal princi-pal reason for a by-pass road is $to solve the congested Utah County Coun-ty traffic problem. Funds are set up in the 1957 budget for aerial mapping of a proposed route for the new highway. high-way. Actual programming of the highway might get started as early ear-ly as 1958. To be constructed under the interstate in-terstate program with 90 per cent federal pjarticipation, the road will be designated Highway 91, with the present highway likely to be known as Highway 91 alternate. alter-nate. "It is our intention to bring the present Highway 91 up to top standard before building the limited lim-ited access road," Mr. Vance said. The recommendation of the Utah Safety Council subcommittee subcommit-tee to locate the road west of Utah Lake drew strong opposition from cities" and county leaders. Chairman Sterling D. Jones of the county commission indicated the commission would serve as a coordinating agency to get signatures signa-tures of the county's mayors and chambers of commerce re-affirming their conviction the by-pass should be east of the lake to serve heavily populated areas. Noting Utah County's present population of 100,000, and that it is one of the fastest growing areas of the state, need for the route east of Utah Lake will increase rather than lessen, it is stated. Recently, mayors and chambers of commerce of Utah County, in formal resolution, called attention to the federal highway act provision pro-vision that "usage and need" be criteria for location of a federal highway route. If the federal freeway were to be located west of the lake, it would violate this first and most important requirement by by-passing the state's largest industrial center, as well as the main cities in Utah county, it was pointed out. |