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Show y "Safer 89" group meets with Gov. :PH'- 'iniMl SALT LAKE CITY--A citizens' group that has been fighting for in-' creased safety additions to U.S. Highway 89 met with Governor Norm Bangerter at the State Capitol Thursday morning, seeking support for their recommended . changes : along the busy thoroughfare. . " "Citizens' Co-op for a Safer 89 . in '89" was' joined in the meeting i by four state legislators from Davis f County, as well as representatives from1 the ; state's .Department of i Transportation. Governor Bangerter i asked questions about the group's proposal, as well as seeking infor- , mation about usage of the, roadway ; and costs for the project, ; .i :i . This latest meeting was the culmination cul-mination of many months of work by the co-op, described by co-founder co-founder Diane Maynes as "a group of residents who are concerned not only about our safety and that of our children, but that of the many residents resi-dents who use the corridor daily for commuting to school and work. We : want a solution that, will provide safety long-term, not just a temporary tempor-ary answer." .. p Maynes was introduced by Lay-;ton Lay-;ton state representative Frank Knowlton, who told the Governor : that ' 'Highway 89 has created some : serious traffic problems that must . ; be - addressed Y Knowlton was : joined by . fellow representatives ' Walt Bain of Farmington and Doil Bush of Clearfield, as well as state senator David Steele of West Point ' She explained that her group realized real-ized some time ago that "we could be a part of the problem by just complaining, but it's easier to be a part of the solution.", She said her group has held town meetings, conducted con-ducted surveys and in other ways gathered public opinion about the ' main concerns involved with the highway, and possiblSolutions. Citing a study done of the road "( by the engineering firm of Parsons- ' Brinkerhoff, ' as requested by the Wasatch Front Regional Council, - Maynes said three possible solutions solu-tions to the problems along the road were suggested: signaling 12 intcr-sections, intcr-sections, developing the roadway into an expressway, and converting' it in?3 a full freeway. ' She said the best option, in the opinions of both her group arid oth-. ers who've studied the proposals, was development into an expressway. express-way. ' ., V , ".' "We will be receiving a full report re-port oh this proposal next week," she told the Governor. "We'll be sure you get a copy of it.". Maynes explained that the expressway ex-pressway concept calls for six inter-changes, inter-changes, widening of the road to three lanes in each direction and separation se-paration of the road with New Jer- - sey concrete barriers.' The interchanges inter-changes would be located at the Hill ; Air Force Base road (Highway ; 193), Oak Hills Drive, 200 North in 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 . . . , . . .... -. r BaEgerter' reviews "Safer 89" : CONTINUED FROM PAGE i Fruit Heights (where it intersects onto 200 North in Kaysville), the Farmington exit (known more popularly po-pularly as the turnoff by Cherry Hills, a site of frequent accidents), NichoHs Road and Antelope Drive when completed to the highway. ' She emphasized that the signaling signal-ing of 12 intersections with semaphores sema-phores is no longer considered a safe, or wise, option by the group. . "There are some who feel that simply slowing the traffic down will help with safety, but that's riot true. The fact is that, with increasing increas-ing traiikpauerns, signals will simply lead to a quicker 'failing of the highway. We feel the. slowdowns slow-downs and subsequent backups that signals will cause will increase the safety problems." w:v Mayhesadded is already concerned over the possible effects that a new signal to be installed instal-led at Shepherd Lane in Farming-ton, Farming-ton, near the new Smith's Food King, will have. "We are fearful that trucks and other large vehicles coming southbound off the curve by Cherry Hill could hive trouble slowing down if traffic is backed up r by the signal," she said., : :." ': ; Currently, the 116 mile stretch ' of roadway between Lagoon and Harrison Boulevard has 125 access points, Ifost of the problems related to - vehicular . accidents involve crossing from the east or west along the corridor. The roadway has also . had more than iu share of auto-l . pedestrian accidents as well arid mis winter, has been the site of a large number of accidents involving : ""IftKler.expitssway pbtt,'i system of frontage roads will also be built Those roads would be de-; de-; veloped in cooperation with both . state and federal highway funds and those from the Cities through which -they'd rat Total cost of the entire: project would be about $70 million, but, as Maynes pointed out, those estimates are in 1989 dollars. : In reality, the - construction would likely be stretched out over several years, 1 making the ' costs much higher. - Fawn Morgan, a member of the co-op, explained that 23,000 cars use Highway 89 daily, about 60 - percent of the traffic on Interstate ', 15. Studies project that to 20 years, that number will reach 45,000. J:-.t -U Maynes said the expressway plar would be developed in three phases. ; The first phase, which could take - six years to complete, would in- volve the overcrossingS atthe inter- sections (east-west traffic would aO niaBy,g9 under the expressway.) Cost of that phase could range from . $25-31 million, depending on . whether the Hill Field exchange is T. completed separately, which it may. " The second phase would involve ; finishing the overcrossings, at" a cost " of $41 million. That phase would be completed in about 2000 Frontage roads could take another $11 mil-4 mil-4 lira and 10 years to complete. Such long-range timetables concern con-cern the co-op members,, who feel :: solutions need to be firm and im-vi im-vi mediate, .v.-...?:!-:.,;-1 "If we don't move rapidly;" , ; Morgan said, "we'll fight for the lights. We feel those would be a temporary solution, but better than , no action. However, the expressway . is still the picferred option.''. " 5 . ' ' Bangerter assured the group that J one of his main priorities in the next ; four years is to build up the state's "intrastructure. Highways and water projects are of a great concern to me as our state grows. I'm en-couraging en-couraging the legislature .;. to set -klei)onotur-revenues ta-- work on such projects." . c . ; r Though me actual approval of " such a project seems down the road, c Maynes and her fellow co-op members mem-bers all agree that their efforts, and experiences, of the past few months have ban rewarding. "We started out as a bunch of mommies concerned over safety, -and now look what we've doner We've actually met with the Gov: emor and presented our views," she "Said -: ,Vi! -h.'f.r. : Those views are likely to be the topic of some lively debate in the months and years ahead. ? |