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UDOT and council discuss bike-lane environmental review; WFRC funds can’t pay for environmental work
Summary
Council members asked whether the proposed bicycle-lane project can proceed under the regional grant while ensuring public engagement. UDOT staff said the agency will manage procurement options but that WFRC funds cannot be used for the environmental document, which must be paid and procured locally if required.
The council discussed the multi-agency process and funding for the proposed bicycle-lane project and whether UDOT or the municipality would manage the environmental review.
Tamara Woodland and other council members said UDOT had described procurement options and the environmental process. Eduardo Moreno, senior environmental program manager for UDOT, told the council that WFRC (Wasatch Front Regional Council) funds typically cannot pay for the environmental document: "It is true that WFRC funds cannot be used for the environmental process, and it is true that this will be done as a categorical exclusion," he said. Moreno added that when a project has potential controversy, the environmental process requires public engagement and that the municipality should expect to pay for and advertise the environmental procurement when WFRC funds do not cover it.
Council members discussed procurement routes: the standard UDOT approach is a request-for-proposals pool or a request-for-letters-of-qualification; UDOT said it can accept an RFP if the township prefers, and UDOT said it could expand public outreach in the environmental work if the council wants that included — but doing so could increase costs and might require local match funding if the grant budget is exceeded.
Council members also asked for copies of prior traffic studies and noted they want all previously completed work folded into the procurement and outreach. Staff said they would circulate the memo and any studies they have; UDOT staff agreed to clarify if the project's environmental status is a categorical exclusion or a more detailed review and to specify which entities would pay for which tasks.
Ending — Staff agreed to request the written memo referenced in the meeting, to confirm whether the environmental review is a categorical exclusion, and to work with UDOT on procurement and public-engagement options before bringing a formal contract or scope to the council.
