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Show ack of transportation funding lay cause freeway congestion iy CALEB WARNOCK Utah County Staff Jtah Valley residents uld brace themselves for ,os Angeles-like "land-pe "land-pe of congestion" on ?rstate 15 in less than en years, according to director of a countywide ;r-government group. )arrell Cook, executive ;ctor of the Mountain-i Mountain-i Association of Cavern-its, Cavern-its, is warning anyone Ij will listen that freeway gestion will become a r of life in Utah County ess the state finds a way 3hotc )ay fr improvements to , . freeway. y5h(lshe Utah Legislature's ;nt decision to take ley from the state's Sisportation fund will be astating, according to k, who says that unless more lanes in each . . Miction are added to 1-15 J?1 -2010, the freeway will t nave. ?U"hat means frequent , S-and-go traffic and asfateds 25 percent of the e af-tl limit will be the norm. 'Pt is recommended that ' nowjdo reconstruction down Jer' University Parkway in l& m, but the Legislature to imp earmarked no funding," ents K-,aid. es everjy the end of the recent islative session, the ijont) ;e's transportation fund were been reduced by $90 el.Ttion annually leaving idergnfficient funds to cover assest payments on existing f of stds from projects already jrade!rt, Cook said. Because of lave p, bond payments that been scheduled to end is one 2007 freeing up the emente to bond for more egan movements will now be o, shednued until 2017. Until erageli, no new bonding is iy- iitorin;he Legislature did y, and;!e to convene a special progK: force to examine fund-)om fund-)om b shortfalls and their ibilitv. ;t on the future of transit! trans-it! in'ation- j jjiThey are going to look at js idling alternatives and igram. rea tah Press Assoc. onors Parkinson r tO he vole sip the .forth: th the By Cathy Allred y P'tah Press Association Elemf-: weekend gave its 2003 rary.H-ter Editor and Publish-Liter;war(j Publish-Liter;war(j to Kirk Parkinson, lities ;time publisher of The 26-9 Herald. ers.or? he award, the highest 0i" -fite the association Inflows on its professional leagues, was made at the -flJciation's annual con-jj-jfjion in Mesquite, Nev. irkinson, publisher of jcfHerald for 16 years and ii entry vice president in ,-j'ge of acquisitions and ness development, tyyes as publisher of all ay newspapers in Utah ity owned by Pulitzer ispapers Inc., which lowns the Herald. Week-lewspapers Week-lewspapers include the Utah group in north- ft Jtah County, the Orem- va Times and the lish Fork Press, ark has demonstrated Call 756-7669 to place a classified HALIBUT Fish & Chips V: PHONE ORDERS WELCOME! iTS 'A nY t THE BURC3ER BOY'S TS Credit cards Cjlncily accepted. make recommendations," Cook said. "It is our hope that we can get Utah County Coun-ty 1-15 reconstruction onto the funding radar screen and into some future funding fund-ing package that will make improvements a reality within a reasonable time frame." j Since 1990, Utah County has seen a 57 percent increase in population growth, adding considerably consider-ably to the strain on a freeway free-way system built in the 1960s. The county is projected pro-jected to grow another 86 percent in the next three decades. As growth happens, the freeway which is Utah County's major thoroughfare thorough-fare for inter-county travel -- will function less and less efficiently, Cook said. "In the last 10 years we've put more average daily traffic on that freeway than we did in the previous three decades combined," Cook said. "The carrying capacity of the freeway is 120,000 cars on a daily basis. We are teetering right on the edge of that." Mountainland statistics show some portions of the freeway, such as segments between American Fork and Provo, may be only two to three years from failure. To keep gridlock and stopped traffic from becoming an everyday occurrence, three phases of improvements must be made, Cook said. Phase one would add two lanes each direction from Sandy to Orem in the next seven years; phase two, spanning 2011-2020, would add one lane each way from Orem to Spanish Fork; phase three, from 2021-2030, 2021-2030, would add one lane each way from Spanish Fork to the south county border, according to Shawn Seager, senior planner at Mountainland. All told, the three phases will cost $1.6 billion, he said. According to the Legisla- year after year his commitment commit-ment to Utah County's prosperity and future v growth," senior vice president presi-dent of Pulitzer Newspapers, Newspa-pers, Inc. Mark Contreras said. "It is because of Kirk's deep knowledge of Utah County that we have been able to expand our presence and we're deeply indebted." Parkinson's accomplishments accomplish-ments at the Daily Herald highlighted in the award citation include overseeing the newspaper's transition from a six-day to a seven-day seven-day edition, the shift from afternoon to morning delivery, deliv-ery, and doubling the size of the Herald's building. Parkinson has been a member of the Provo Rotary Club for 23 years, where he is a past president and a Paul Harris Fellow. He has been re-elected more than once as the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce 580 E. State Rd. Am. Fork ture's timetable, however, funding for phase one will not be available until 2020 -- 10 years after the freeway fails, Cook said. Phases two and three face similar delays. Even if the phases were built on Mountainland's more accelerated timetable, the freeway would fail anyway any-way unless a $294 million commuter rail system is built by 2020 and a new highway goes in west of Utah Lake at a cost of $250 million, Cook said. Before either 1-15 reconstruction recon-struction or a west-lake highway can be built, extensive exten-sive environmental impact studies will be required for each, showing wildlife habitat habi-tat will not be harmed. The good news is that funding for both studies -about $10 million-$14 million mil-lion has been set aside, and work on both will begin within weeks. "We expect each to take three to five years before anything can get moving. We have to get those done," Cook said. Utah County receives approximately $30 million annually from the state in the form of gasoline taxes, Cook said, but the total is only enough to maintain and add to either intercity roads or the freeway but not both. "We could put every resource into 1-15 and let the roads in the cities go to pot, or we could force all the attention to the issue of one interstate road," Cook said. "We went that way because it is much easier to draw attention to a road that is important to everybody in the state of Utah. "This is Utah's problem, not , just .. Utah . County's problem." The county's transportation transporta-tion budget assumes a 5-cent 5-cent increase in the state gasoline tax every six years for the next 30 years; it also assumes existing state and federal funds will grow at . l-i . i.. ir.i . .- .r -mm Si V Wni Kirk Parkinson director, has been the United Unit-ed Way chair, and has been the director of the Provo Foundation and vice presi- . dent for membership of the Utah National Parks Council Coun-cil of Boy Scouting. He has also been a board director of the Utah Press Association since 1999. "He is one of our industry's indus-try's true gentlemen and we're delighted he was chosen cho-sen to receive this honor," Contreras said. "On behalf of all of his collegues at Pulitzer we salute Kirk for this honor." ad in New Utah 3 Wed. 8pm to close. Friday 9:30pm to close, & Saturday 8pm to close. Great music, call in request line, super sound system, glow in the dark lighting. A Photo by Dan Lund Darrell Cook, executive director of the Mountainland Association of Governments says freeway congestion will become a way of life in Utah County unless the state finds a way to pay for improvements to the freeway. about 3 percent a year. But it may not represent any new money. "That is about a rate that will offset inflation, so we are basically flat in new revenues," Cook said. Additionally, he warned that gas tax funding may decrease as consumers buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. Funds will also be drained as federal transportation grants require increasingly more local matching money. And the longer 1-15 reconstruction is delayed, the more expensive it will get, Cook said. Using Mountainland's preferred timetable, 1-15 reconstruction will cost $1.6 billion in today's dollars. Delaying by a decade will increase the cost by an additional addi-tional $1 billion, he said. The outlook also assumes Utah County residents will approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase on the ballot in 2004, which will bring in an estimated $10 million annually for com New Utah captures state recognition, award New Utah staff members came away with several state awards for excellence in journalism, presented Saturday during the Utah Press Association convention. conven-tion. A sports photograph of a Lehi High School football game took first place in its division, while the five-newspaper five-newspaper group also received first for the design and layout of its classified advertising pages. "It's a great shot," said the judges about Scott Mackintosh's Mackin-tosh's photograph. Beky Beaton took a second sec-ond place for the editorial she wrote about school board election boundaries. Judges said "solid opinion, good emotion." Missionary reunion set for April 4 There will be a reunion for missionaries from the Texas Mission from 1967-1970 1967-1970 under President Elliot C. Howe on April 4 at the Taylorsville North Stake Center, 1250 W. Atherton Drive, Taylorsville. (Go off I- 035 mm 4 - A. ft' "-r muter rail and road improvements. Rep. Brad Winn, R-Pleas-aht Grove, said budget constraints con-straints forced cuts to be made in transportation funding and he acknowledged acknowl-edged the future of transportation trans-portation in Utah County looks bleak. "What do we do? That is the big, unanswered, $1.6 billion question," he said. "If we are going to look at tax increases, we ought to look at those who use the roads by taxing gasoline and auto-related auto-related things." Utah County Commissioner Commis-sioner Gary Herbert called Utah Valley's transportation transporta-tion challenges "staggering." "As our transportation goes, so will go our economic econom-ic development," he said. "They are tied together. We are not going to be able to have continued job creation and development if we can't get across the county." Caleb Warnock can be-reached be-reached at 344-2543 or cwarnockheraldextra.com. A feature story about a local Muslim family also captured a second. Photographs from the Olympic torch run formed the basis for an award-winning photo page, which received second place. "Good main art, good close-up," said the judges. In the editor's column competition, Barbara Christiansen Chris-tiansen earned third place honors for a trio of columns. "Solid work," said the judges. Advertising also received recognition as the judges award a second place for a series of ads from Gunther's Comfort Air. New Utah competes in the category with the largest non-daily newspapers in the state. 15 at 4500 South and go west to approximately 1100 West and Atherton Drive.) Refreshments will be served at 6 p.m., with a program pro-gram at 7:15. Anyone desiring desir-ing further information may call 801-266-0915. SAVE $$ STEEL j Closeoufs Limited Supply! fT r z 7'- Sunrise Gold Wlde s?Z.WtfU 8',10',12',14',16',20'Un3th$ 37 sq. ft. White, Charcoal, Dark Brown, It. Gray Custom Lengths Custom Sizes 'Ask about specioh on other colors Coll for FREE StockPrice" listll Expires 4403 or before We accept rhe crwltt cards METALmart METAL AND MORi New Utah - Thursday, March 27, 2003 - Page 1 1 IHC offers on-line registration IHC Hospitals in Utah County have recently launched an innovative online on-line surgery pre-registra-tion site that will allow patients to complete their history information on-line. This has been in the works for the past year and was launched Monday, Feb. 24. "Patients may visit the web site and obtain information infor-mation when they want it. They'll have time to understand under-stand and complete the forms in their own home without being rushed prior to surgery. The on-line version ver-sion is easy to navigate and easy to use," according to Administrative Director of Surgical Services Carol Hadlock. The on-line registration will save patients time. They won't need to come in and talk to nurses the day before surgery unless lab work is needed. This surgical surgi-cal service web site can be accessed through the Internet Inter-net at www.ihc.comsurgery. Once on the IHC web site, patients need to select the hospital where they're scheduled for surgery. Then patients may choose one of the following: Our Facility, Before Surgery, Day of Surgery, After Surgery, Billing Information and contact con-tact numbers In the "Before Surgery" section, patients will find information regarding registration reg-istration as well as commonly com-monly asked questions such as "How is my surgery scheduled? Why can't I have anything to eat or drink? What should I bring with me?" The on-line medical history his-tory form is also available. It allows patients to answer questions at their pace before surgery. Upon completion, com-pletion, the form is automatically auto-matically faxed to the Surgical Surgi-cal Center where the patient is scheduled for surgery. sur-gery. This allows IHC personnel per-sonnel to know the patients better and helps them provide pro-vide more individualized care. In the "Day of Surgery" section, patients will learn what to expect during their stay. It gives information about pain control; medication medica-tion pain relief and non-medication non-medication pain relief and explains how to rate the perception pain on a scale from 1 to 10. In the "After Surgery" section, there is information about how patients can take care of themselves at home and what number to call if they have any questions. "We have been working hard at streamlining this process and feel this will meet the needs of our patients by educating them and providing a smooth surgical sur-gical experience," said Hadlock. Had-lock. "This new process provides pro-vides our patients the latest in technology and allows our patients the convenience conven-ience of filling out forms right from their homes." ROOFINGSIDING 768-3332 181 S. 1200 E., LEH! it r |
