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UDOT seeks Daggett County—s input on long-range transportation plan baseline; commissioners flag second-home and recreation impacts
Summary
UDOT staff presented the 2027'055 long-range transportation plan and asked local officials to verify 2023 household baseline counts; commissioners raised concerns about second-home prevalence, seasonal recreation traffic (Flaming Gorge), and data sources including water hookups and assessor records.
Representatives from the Utah Department of Transportation presented the agency's rural long-range transportation plan to the Daggett County Commission on Aug. 22 and asked county officials to verify household baseline numbers used in the model.
Zane Pulver, introduced as UDOT's long-range planning manager, said the agency updates its long-range plan every four years and that the current planning cycle covers 2027 through 2055. He told commissioners the model needs two principal inputs—households and jobs—and that UDOT uses a 2023 household baseline to establish current travel patterns before applying future growth assumptions. "So every 4 years, UDOT updates their long range plan," Pulver said.
Natalia (last name not provided in the transcript), a UDOT planner working on the model, explained the agency's household definition: "A household ... is a housing unit with full time residents. So these are housing units where people live year round." She emphasized the model excludes short-term rentals and vacation homes from the household baseline but said UDOT layers second-home and seasonal visitor effects on top of the baseline using traffic counts and seasonal adjustments.
Local officials told UDOT that many properties in Daggett County function as second homes and that recreation at Flaming Gorge and other national recreation areas generates substantial seasonal peaks and pass-through traffic on state highways (44, 43 and 191). One participant said roughly 70% of homes in the county are second homes; UDOT asked local officials to provide water-connection counts, assessor records and other local data as a 'sanity check' to improve model accuracy. UDOT staff said they received baseline inputs from the state mapping agency UGRC and will refine recreation inputs and traffic-count adjustments as they work with consultants.
UDOT staff committed to share the interactive map link used in the presentation and to continue outreach. Commissioners and local staff agreed to provide water-connection counts and to coordinate further outreach or possible site visits as the planning process continues.
What happens next: UDOT will follow up with the interactive map link and may request additional local data; county staff will provide verification where possible and support future outreach.
