The Heber City Council is joining Wasatch County residents in participating in the Utah Department of Transportation’s 60-day public comment period on its proposed Heber Valley bypass west of the city, which is intended to improve traffic flow and walkability on Main Street.  The City Council has drafted a letter to UDOT, which members and Mayor Heidi Franco signed on Tuesday. The letter does not criticize the alternative chosen, which cuts through the North Fields, but instead focuses on local impacts and traffic and safety concerns identified by city engineer Russ Funk. The foremost concern was the location of the connection between the western bypass and U.S. 40 leaving the city to the southeast. The raised bypass connection runs along 1300 South in a developed area surrounded by homes and businesses. Concern about the connection was first raised on Jan. 16, when UDOT representatives presented a rendering of the area to the City Council. Franco asked whether landowners in the area would be compensated for potential declines in their property values, and UDOT senior environmental program manager Naomi Kisen said they would not. The letter asks UDOT to consider moving the connection further south into undeveloped land to reduce impacts and potentially eliminate some of the costs of a raised roadway and underpasses.  Another concern was trail access at the Midway Lane interchange. If the bypass is built as proposed, pedestrians or cyclists would have to take a half-mile detour to travel through the interchange. If people are unwilling to take the detour, they may cross roads illegally, leading to increased traffic risk. Heber City’s proposed solutions include the addition of bike lanes and pedestrian walkways either underneath or elevated above the intersection. Other traffic concerns included better ease of access to Walmart and College Way. Funk and the City Council hope that their letter allows residents to echo their concerns in their own public comments. The letter is available to read in the agenda materials for the Tuesday City Council meeting. The public comment period for the Heber Valley bypass ends on March 9. Residents can submit comments via the website hebervalleyeis.udot.utah.gov, phone (801-210-0498), email [email protected] or mail addressed to “Heber Valley Corridor EIS c/o HDR” at 2825 E. Cottonwood Parkway #200, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121. 39782bd3-74ba-4569-8105-ccb7a5b4ded0Download The post Heber City Council identifies bypass concerns in letter to UDOT appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less