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Show Sunday, December 3, THE DAILY HERALD, Provo, Utah, 1995 Y - Page F5 ' i j ' o c I v I ; i . Vv ' i I X i - f lJf i : i 1 : f j ' " 'i ; j J . " ; ; his week state and local leaders will hold an unprecedented public policy discussion at Utah's Growth Summit. The summit, organized by Republicans, Demo- crats and local leaders from around the state, will address critical infrastructure challenges created by unparalleled growth. The three issues to be addressed are transportation, water development and preservation of open spaces. -- .'BBhtt. JiJWfia;-saV The roads SViORE traveled that is now well known as is I960. Vie like "Ike" in the While House, but Vice President Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy debate on TV to see who will succeed him. At Forbes Field, the un- St derdog Pittsburgh Pirates down the might)- - New-Yor- Yankees in the World Series. The Best Picture Oscar goes to "The Apartment" and Elvis is king. Family life in Itali is simple. Dad drives the car to work alone all week, but mom and the kids pile in for a weekend drive. And the I'tah Highway Department begins work on a major highway that will cross the entire stale Travelers and will come to be known as on other roads thoughout the state fare no better. It is 1995. Bill Clinton sits in the Oval Office while a host of GOP hopefuls posture themselves for the 1996 elections. The Atlanta Braves finally break their fall classic jinx and beat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. "Forrest Gump" wins the Best Picture Oscar and llootie and the Blowfish rule MTV. Family life in I'tah is more complex these das with day planners, cellular phones, FAX machines and personal computers. Now almost everyone over die age of 16 drives a car and both mom and dad are working. Mom and dad commute to dieir jobs separately. And I'tahns sit stuck in traffic on dial same old highway 1 - A- 50,000 I'tah youngsters will join the driving force by the year 2000. The heart of the problem lies along a stretch that extends north to south through our of largest population centers. Not only is it old beyond feasible repair, it no longer meets modern standards and it simply won't handle the traffic of the 21st century. To understand we must first look at the importance of A full hole. 7" percent of I'tah's the state as a w population lives between Ogden and Provo. To make matters more difficult, two of the Western state's main trucking routes intersect right in the middle of it. When we say we're die "Crossroads of die West," we're more literal than fanciful. The transportation needs are real, Just to recorridor will require about a construct the billion dollars. Add to that unfunded needs all over the state and the price tag is $2.6 billion. With the federal government's share of highway funding uncertain, it's clear state leaders must do something right away. The I'tah Department of Transportation is already working on solutions. Plans for die new .ya6i - include additional general purpose lanes. 5. By any standard, transportation has become a major problem in I'tah. And it's getting worse. The population of I tah has grown 18 percent over the past ten years. But the vehicle population is growing at i" percent and the number of miles those vehicles travel is up 5" percent. Projections indicate that more than Utah's quality of life is the envy of the nation. Preserving that quality of life is the main objective of the Summit. The public is welcome to attend the summit sessions from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cottonwood High School, and 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, also at Cottonwood. Or tune in from home on any major commercial or public television station and many radio stations throughout the state. (HOY) lanes, improved d railroad overpasses, and This plan would almost double capacity and ease traffic flow substantially. In addition, multiple projects are planned that would substantially improve transportation services in rural I'tah. s, Paving for these dramatic needs is the real challenge. Gas taxes are not tied to inflation, so as inflation has increased and gas taxes hav e remained steady, the budget for roads has not kept pace with the growing needs. Furthermore, a gallon of gas goes much further in today's fuel efficient cars, so fewer dollars are generated for every mile traveled. Finally, the federal government's share of transportation funding is declining. Still, in a very real sense, more and better roads are not the whole answer. I'nless I'tahns commit to a real lifesty le change, the challeng- es of gridlock still loom large on our horizon. e must learn to use transit options more; join vehivan and car pools, drive alternative-fue- l cles, ride a bicycle, walk, reschedule our work week with flex hours and take advantage of technology to work from home. The answers to t'tah's transportation problems will come from a variety of sources. But Vi the single greatest catalyst will be die commitment of I'tahns to make choices about transportation funding and lifestyle changes. It means doing die right tiling for die right reasons. I'tKnniTx'- i- LL Our open spaces are disappearing herri and Steven Einfeldt drive Davis Countv's rural hiehwavs even- dav. On their last trin thev. saw snmcthins that 0 saddened them. In the middle 01 a neighbor s farm where cows and Canada geese often the Einfeldts spotted a dozen tiny browse wooden stakes. The Kinfeldts, and the thousands of others w ho commute past that farm knew what the stakes meant; that very soon bulldozers would begin caning out roads, and turning the farmland into black top and rooftops. "It made us cry inside." said Slierri. "We've come to use that land as a place to tell our kids about farming." she said. The Kinfeldts are like thousands of I'tahns who are concerned about the stale's loss of open space those places in our valleys or on the hillsides where we grow our food, or enjoy the wildlife. In the past 10 years I'tah has lost more than 1 - 300.000 acres of open space and agricultural land. That's roughly half of all the land in Cache County. Lost farm land and open space affect our health, our sense of community and our pocket books. Food prices rise as growth and lost farm land contribute to a dependence on more costly imported food. Traffic and pollution increase as more trucks haul California and Texas produce to our markets. Taxes rise be ?! cause municipal senices in residential developments cost more than the developments gener-- ' ate in taxes. Wildlife are forced into the foothills because they have no habitat, but develop- ments are encroaching into the foothills, too. ' The loss of habitat changes our whole ecosys- tern, our lifestyles and the opportunities for our children to enjoy wildlife. And urban sprawl transforms our traditional wide-ope- n neighbor-- , hoods'inio pockets of stress and congestion. Sprawl's methodical consumption of farmland and wildlife habitat chips way at our food The source and our heritage of combination of these factors contribute to the loss of our traditional quality of life in I'tah. The preservation of our open space is vital to . industries ranging from agriculture to tourism . e. . to wildlife. This year can be called the year of action in I'tah as leaders in the fields of consenation, development, finance, state gov ernment, agriculture, and natural resources have come together to map a strategy to protect open space. This summit will come too late to save die farm and Steven and Slierri Einfeldt's neighborhood, but it may help protect hundreds of oth- er parcels by encouraging people to support open space presenation. "We're asking our Davis County Commissioners to make die planning and zoning changes needed to give land-- . owners some options other than selling the farm," said Steven Kinfeldt. "Farmers out diere Continued on next page F ' ' |