Heber Valley corridor team says level‑2 screening nearly complete, draft EIS due later this year

Craig, the project presenter, updated the Wasatch County Council on the Heber Valley Corridor Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process, describing progress through a multi‑stage screening and into more detailed impact analysis.

“We have completed our design for the level 2 screening, and we’re now starting to embark into that part of the screening analysis,” Craig said, explaining that level‑2 looks at higher‑level impacts such as wetlands, historic properties, parks, archaeological sites, property impacts and rights of way including a local sewer farm. He told the council the team is also formulating cost estimates for the alternatives that survive screening and will refine engineering elements for nonmotorized transportation, drainage, local road access and utility conflicts.

Craig said the team expects to publish an alternatives‑screening report to the public in late March and then enter the draft EIS phase with a goal of completing the draft EIS by fall 2025, at which point a preferred alternative will be identified. He described outreach plans that will include fact sheets and video and said comments will be solicited during the draft EIS phase rather than at the screening report release.

Council members asked questions about schedule and coordination with local governments and stakeholders; Craig and his staff said they are meeting monthly with county staff, the Heber City Council and groups such as Utah Open Lands to avoid conflicts and align trail and open‑space planning. The team noted travel‑time modeling changes led to modifications in several alternatives, and the project is testing both at‑grade and free‑flow (interchange/flyover) versions of route options with travel‑time differences of roughly 30–60 percent between the two in their summary table.