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Herriman adopts ordinance to limit utility cuts into newly built roads for three years
Summary
Herriman leaders described and approved a road-excavation ordinance designed to protect recently paved streets: cuts to new roads would be barred for three years (with discouraged cuts in years three to five), and any cuts in years 3–5 would require wider repaving to encourage coordination and lower long-term costs.
Herriman officials described a newly adopted ordinance that aims to reduce repeated trenching of recently paved streets, protect pavement investments and prompt better coordination among utilities.
"This ordinance says, basically, if there's a new road, you're not cutting into that road again for 3 years," said the returning guest identified in the episode as Mayor Palmer, summarizing the council’s guiding principle. City hosts added that the ordinance allows very limited exceptions for emergencies, but generally bars excavations during the three-year protection period.
The ordinance also addresses the period between three and five years after pavement is placed. "If they do a cut between 3 and 5 years after a road is built, they have to repave 25 feet in both directions for the entire width of the road," a podcast host explained, noting the substantially higher cost is intended to incentivize consolidation of work and better planning among utility partners.
Officials framed the rule as both a taxpayer-protection measure and a way to reduce recurring traffic disruptions. "It'll force everybody to kind of think ahead and say, if I can't cut into this road for 3 years, I better get in on that now," the mayor said, adding that similar policies exist in other cities.
The podcast did not include a formal roll-call vote or mover/second on the ordinance; the hosts stated the council approved the policy but the episode did not provide a vote tally. The episode said staff recommended the measure to protect public pavement investments and hoped the higher cost of later cuts would lead utility companies and developers to coordinate schedules.
What happens next: implementation details and any enforcement rules will be handled by city staff and included in the ordinance language and permitting process. The host encouraged coordination between utilities and the city to minimize the number of cuts within the protection window.
Ending note: city officials said the ordinance is intended to reduce future maintenance costs and traffic disruptions while the city tracks outcomes and coordinates with utility partners.
