[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6239779,"mediaKeyId","3335094-2091bfeb486096432643769c48bb439d","parentId",3335094,"title","UDOT study warns Tooele Valley roads risk severe congestion; east–west links and Mid Valley Highway cited as priorities","audioSeconds",2565,"startMs",91100,"endMs",2656300,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3335094-2091bfeb486096432643769c48bb439d&start=91&end=2656","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3335094-2091bfeb486096432643769c48bb439d/thumbnail_91100.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6239779/Utah/UDOT-study-warns-Tooele-Valley-roads-risk-severe-congestion-eastwest-links-and-Mid-Valley-Highway-cited-as-priorities","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6239779-be7db0e9e80a762c8b3b1fa9f9cf3ab5/orig.mp4?Expires=1770889915&Signature=PUxq1P6607wB~BanBwwNG5BoGqchnm~s6grElJgLJnpTpUg2KmoioLBaM408uFvFtta0JD2~BdybieQWQIRlSCITpRu~tX8fAekcwpMe9rdhida~WbLhdK-nNEcEg~72T2T36TquyREjql5BgJ8y63gXCz6lK8MWcAPsuQYDq9luv5Bb~fSU-NeYeL~bifLBOPFlc30xTXNRO52PQyDPvriAlBclltnP740SmYLI5Pt14Xo1oWgFdyaEXGlinjKMBVAaWYVCevFVqD23D9yqKwHNiSCPM0OVq1MaWW1ZYVQ2RO4CZw57-2RoC4ZLi~17aMP7FvVQo0yM0Jon6BEK8A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-05-16T13:58:22Z","article","State transportation officials and consultants told the Tooele Valley Council of Governments on May 15 that projected population and job growth will sharply increase congestion on state highways in the valley, putting greater pressure on SR‑36, SR‑112 and Sheep Lane and prompting a push for more east–west connections and for progress on Mid Valley Highway.

UDOT’s Jeff Dupont introduced the study and said the intent was to “take a look at what the state road network can handle” as local development proceeds. Parametrix consultants Kai Toyinaka and Charles Allen presented preliminary population, employment and traffic-modeling results they said represent about half of the study work to date.

The study uses locally coordinated forecasts for population and jobs and a UDOT traffic‑forecasting tool to simulate how the state and local networks perform. “One way to think about it is how full is the pipe,” Charles Allen said, describing the model’s color scale for congestion. Allen said existing daily vehicle hours traveled in the valley are about 33,000 per day, with roughly 2,000 of those hours spent in delay, and that the model’s mid‑ and long‑range scenarios push travel hours and delay significantly higher; he said later projections show daily vehicle hours approaching 100,000 by midcentury under the study’s growth assumptions. Kai Toyinaka summarized the long‑term forecasts: current population “just under 80,000” and employment near 20,000 are projected to grow by about 40,000 people and to approach “almost 70,000” jobs over the next 30 years, figures he said came from coordination with local governments and development information.

The presenters said state‑owned roads will take the largest share of increased delay. Allen called the cluster around Sheep Lane, SR‑112 (also cited as 112/138/181 in the presentation) and SR‑36 “kind of a triangle of doom” and showed maps in which corridors that are green today move into heavy orange and red in near‑term model years without additional improvements.

Local officials pressed UDOT on what can be done and who pays. A council member asked why projects in the Wasatch Front get priority; Dupont and other UDOT staff acknowledged statewide funding limits and said the study’s purpose is to identify the projects that make the biggest difference so the region can better argue for funding. “It is going to need to be a shared solution,” Dupont said, adding that local network improvements will be important alongside state projects.

Officials and the consultants discussed candidate responses, including added capacity, flexible/reversible lanes, shoulder running and stronger east‑west connections. Regarding reversible or movable‑barrier lanes, Kai Toyinaka noted operational and cost challenges but said the technique “is not something that should be discarded as an option.” Dupont said UDOT is analyzing concepts such as shoulder running and limited widening on other state corridors (he cited prior requests coming to the agency from its leadership) but stressed billions of dollars of statewide unfunded needs will limit how fast work can proceed.

Presenters said the study’s modeled network assumes currently programmed and funded UDOT projects (including some widening work and the southern portion of Mid Valley); the central unfunded segment of Mid Valley is not assumed in the baseline model and remains a key gap. Toyinaka said the study team is producing scenarios that add local or additional state pieces to quantify which interventions most reduce delay. “We took the population and employment and we fed it into the model…and then from that, we get traffic forecast,” he said; the team intends to follow with an evaluation of candidate projects and a recommended network.

Local leaders repeatedly pressed for short‑term “low hanging fruit.” One official urged quick work on the south end of Mid Valley to get traffic toward Sheep Lane and out to I‑80. UDOT staff and the consultants said short connectors and targeted intersections could provide near‑term relief while the longer, central Mid Valley segment is planned and funded. Dupont said the agency is updating its long‑range plan on a four‑year cycle and that the analysis will inform future updates.

No formal action was taken at the COG meeting on the study; UDOT staff said they will return with more specific project‑level recommendations and scenario results after they complete the remainder of the modeling.

Ending: The study frames Tooele Valley growth as a mix of state and local responsibilities: UDOT and consultants concluded state roads will bear a disproportionate share of future delay while local east–west connections and coordinated planning will be required to reduce risk. UDOT told the COG it will use the study to prioritize projects and said the valley’s leaders should coordinate locally to strengthen funding requests to the state and legislators.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Council of Governments 5/15/2025","oneSentenceSummary","State transportation officials and consultants told the Tooele Valley Council of Governments on May 15 that projected population and job growth will sharply increase congestion on state highways in the valley, putting greater pressure on SR‑36, SR‑112 and Sheep Lane and prompting a push for more east–west connections and for progress on Mid Valley Highway.","taxTitle","Tooele County Commission, Tooele County Commission and Boards, Tooele County, Utah","taxId",19828,"location","Utah","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6239774,"Tooele County completes lidar pavement assessment; proposes shared procurement for neighboring towns",1339,2866841,4206395,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3335094-2091bfeb486096432643769c48bb439d&start=2866&end=4206","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3335094-2091bfeb486096432643769c48bb439d/thumbnail_2866841.jpg","/articles/6239774/Utah/Tooele-County-completes-lidar-pavement-assessment-proposes-shared-procurement-for-neighboring-towns","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6239774-dcec41fad6c432dab2faf93e374ef0f6/orig.mp4?Expires=1770889915&Signature=Jcdn40AUvWdpWgJS7eDXWVuTJYld3w56gr2bDE9EkiYjWi4XpgVcqUBltvo9cr4K0VO7h-YaqFJdxIJOgbWnOxThOrX6Zn3rFn7Xb1ggMleVeQv4Qdvzh9atJ3RQgTCS6vRkV933RY6Uf9yEmBX9bdh6yjDX88BqKBqcRzavAI~97n2XGQkue6iv2DjcnrXSPYonwP3UYBk7-JYnj4JxwQEFFfgn3qmTbIuRmMpNxuwds9Zir8BUv45KNpyO0GsjjkOJibBTHf-lh5d7SRmAtQjuF0O4N8WE7Cosl-N4N0L4eP6jjFBHXs1we6T5PJ3Y7QdrtW7~4RQlOc~YTFk0lw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Tooele County public works staff presented the results of a countywide mobile lidar pavement assessment to the Council of Governments on May 15 and proposed using the COG to extend the same survey to neighboring municipalities to reduce per‑mile costs and create consistent pavement condition data.

Jed Bell, Tooele County roads director, said the county contracted a mobile LIDAR and imaging survey to collect pavement distress data and build a GIS database used to compute pavement condition index (PCI) scores. “What we did is, we did a county wide survey of all of the county roads that we maintain,” Bell said. He described the vendor truck’s LIDAR and 3‑D imaging equipment and said the per‑mile cost in their procurement ran about $150–$250 per mile depending on economy of scale.

Bell summarized the condition results: “About 75% of our inventory is from marginal to excellent, and then the 25% is very poor and poor.” He said roads in the “very poor” category typically require thick overlays or reconstruction, while marginal to good segments can improve with less expensive preventive treatments. Bell identified two long stretches in the very‑poor category by name: a route he called “Imapaw” (about 35 miles) and a parallel road near I‑80 locally referred to as “I‑40” (about 44 miles), and said the county is pursuing grants and targeted maintenance for those corridors.

The assessment produced GIS polygons, segment‑level PCI scores, video/LIDAR image playback and a vendor web portal. Bell said the county uploaded the vendor’s Excel output into its own Esri GIS and uses the data to prioritize treatments and to meet the state auditor’s condition‑data requirements. The county finished the mapping and database in December 2024 and is using the results in a five‑year pavement maintenance plan.

Bell and Adam Graft (roads department) described subscription options: the vendor provides a one‑year web subscription for about $2,500 that allows interactive video review and segment‑level inspection; the county also retains the Excel output for its GIS. Bell emphasized the tool is an aid, not a replacement for staff inspection: “If I’m going to determine I’m going to spend a hundred thousand dollars repairing and I’m gonna go to my council and I’m gonna ask them for a hundred thousand to repair this road, I ain’t going off that picture. I’m driving the road myself.”

Speakers from several small towns said piggybacking on a single solicitation could reduce costs; the county estimated a joint procurement might permit broader coverage for roughly $50,000 more (county estimate for unspecified coverage). County staff offered to prepare a consolidated COG application if member jurisdictions want to participate; multiple city representatives said they were interested but did not record a formal vote at the meeting.

Ending: The assessment gives Tooele County a consistent baseline to prioritize maintenance, comply with state audit expectations and seek grants. County staff said they can run a joint COG solicitation to extend the service to smaller municipalities and can provide spreadsheet exports for jurisdictions that prefer to host the data in their own GIS.","Tooele County roads staff reviewed a countywide mobile lidar pavement assessment May 15, reporting about 75% of maintained roads rate from marginal to excellent and roughly 25% rate poor or very poor. County staff proposed a joint COG solicitation so smaller towns can buy into the same survey at lower per‑mile cost.","actionData","errors"]

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UDOT study warns Tooele Valley roads risk severe congestion; east–west links and Mid Valley Highway cited as priorities

Tooele County completes lidar pavement assessment; proposes shared procurement for neighboring towns