Utah will seek approval of Northern Corridor highway under Trump administration

St. George • A recently released environmental study may have signaled the federal government’s intent to revoke approval of the proposed Northern Corridor Expressway, but Utah’s elected officials still see a path forward for building the hotly debated road.

Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, and members of the state’s all-GOP congressional delegation. to workwarned by blocking the highway Red Cliffs National PreserveNorth of George could experience more wildfires, spread more invasive weeds, and harm critical habitat or Mojave desert tortoises, along with other endangered species.

Although they are focusing on the findings, elected officials hope the incoming Trump administration will overrule the decision by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and give Utah a second chance at building the four-lane highway.

“I look forward to working with the Trump administration to reverse the decision and build the path forward,” Cox said in a statement.

Approval of road right of way It was first issued in 2021 during the Trump administration. Following a lawsuit from conservation organizations, the project has been put on hold pending the outcome of a supplemental environmental impact statement and the Biden administration’s final decision on the proposal.

Now that the decision has been made, the Northern Corridor Expressway will be officially retired, with federal agencies releasing decision records within the next few weeks.

Then highway planners would have to start over.

word war

This bothers Utah’s congressional staff.

“Washington County has worked in good faith with local and federal stakeholders for many years to minimize the environmental impact of the Northern Corridor,” Senator Mitt Romney said in a press release. “This BLM decision again delays the completion of this project and ignores the county’s valuable input. It also fails to ease traffic congestion or provide protection for the desert tortoise. It is time for this highway to be completed,” he said.

Sen. Mike Lee, Utah’s senior senator and a key Trump ally, echoed Romney’s concerns.

“Once again, the Biden administration has chosen to ignore Utah’s needs and the practical benefits of the Northern Corridor alternative, opting for an alternative that will do nothing to ease congestion in Washington County,” Lee said. “This decision is a setback to our communities and regional growth and is detrimental to major desert tortoise habitat in Region 6. I am fully committed to doing whatever it takes to reverse this decision and eventually complete construction of the Northern Corridor.”

District 6, consisting of approximately 6,800 acres, is equally divided. BLM And Utah Trust Lands Administration, It was set aside as separate land from the rest of the conservation area to offset the impact of the Northern Corridor Highway. State officials insist they will be done unless road approval is re-approved Forced to sell trust lands in District 6 to raise money for Utah schools that could negatively impact desert tortoises and miles of multi-use trails and rock climbing features.

Although state and federal officials were upset with the decision, conservation groups opposed to the road were not swayed by the outrage. Instead of fighting for a return, Protect Southwest Utah And Southern Utah Wildlife Alliance They say the county would be better off reforming its transportation and land use strategies.

“Otherwise it would condemn current and future generations to the loss of valuable natural resources, long commutes and even more traffic,” officials from both environmental groups said in a joint statement Monday.

Environmentalists argue that the county’s own traffic study agrees that the $200 million Northern Corridor would lead to the largest increase in vehicle use in the region compared to other alternatives. They note that the Red Hills Parkway, which federal agencies have now designated as the preferred alternative, will be preferred. cheaper, Better to ease traffic congestion and we cause less harm to the environment.

Moreover, they accuse county and state officials of using District 6 as a bargaining chip, threatening to sell it to developers in order to pressure outdoor enthusiasts to support the Northern Corridor for fear of losing the area. Bearclaw Poppy and Zen trailsAlong with other popular recreation areas in the area also known as Moe Valley. They add that the decision to sell the land is “in the hands of the Utah Trust Lands Administration, not conservation groups or the federal government.”

The environmentalists’ joint statement warned: “If the Northern Corridor were approved, it would distort the meaning of protected land and set a dangerous precedent; Congress could permanently protect federal public lands for conservation purposes and those protections would be set aside (a) local whim.”

More roads, more congestion?

Another controversy in the ongoing Northern Corridor road wars is a recent analysis based in Boston. Speck Dempsey The planning group for Conserve Southwest Utah found that the Northern Corridor Expressway would increase traffic congestion and contribute to suburban sprawl.

Citing statistics from the Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization and a study conducted in June 2024 Horrocks traffic engineersHighway supporters say the Northern Corridor will reduce traffic delays and reduce traffic delays during rush hour in St. He stated that it would reduce congestion on the streets of St. George by 15%.

But Chris Dempsey, a partner at Speck Dempsey who wrote the traffic analysis, said the Horrocks study was flawed because it did not take into account induced demand.

“We’ve seen this happen across the country,” Dempsey said. “Governments spend taxes to widen roads, but this in turn encourages people to take more (auto) trips. They drive more than they did in the past. “Worse still, this leads to an expanding pattern of development along the roads, reaching even more drivers… and you find yourself back to that cramped status quo.”

For example, the 30 million miles Utahns drove each day in 1982 has increased to nearly 94 million miles per day in 2022, according to the Speck Dempsey report. In other words, while Utah’s population has doubled in 40 years, the number of people driving has tripled. and congestion on the state’s roads continued to worsen despite all the new construction.

Instead of building more roads like the Northern Corridor, Dempsey said the county should increase public transportation options and encourage ridesharing, remote work and flexible work hours. Moreover, according to the report, the district, St. It should encourage growth in line with St. George’s traditional street grid pattern, which spreads out trips and gives drivers more options, while also shortening distances for essential services to make walking and cycling more livable.

This is in marked contrast to suburban developments, which contribute to traffic congestion by funneling all cars onto regional roads, the report says. Conserve Southwest Utah officials, St. He says it’s important to model growth between now and 2060 after George.

“If we (match) the more traditional density of downtown St. George, this growth would require approximately 113 square miles of land,” said Judith Rognli, desert livability program manager for Conserve Southwest Utah. “If we expand with a more expansive development model… (it) would require roughly 323 square miles of land, almost 1.5 times the size of Zion National Park.”

Dempsey added that even if he opted to build more roads and took the Horrocks study at face value, the same study showed that Northern Corridor county officials’ preference would not move as much traffic as the Red Cliff Parkway Expressway, which would bypass the national preserve. The previously abandoned option was to expand St. Louis to facilitate better east-west traffic flow in the area. It would turn the Red Hills Parkway in St. George into a freeway between Interstate 15 and Bluff Street.

‘Half-baked’ analysis?

On the contrary, Washington County Officials argue that Speck Dempsey staff are urban planners, not traffic engineers, and do not have the authority to analyze traffic. Washington District Attorney Eric Clarke accuses Conserve Southwest Utah of spreading misleading information rather than having a serious conversation and acting in good faith.

“No Utah-licensed engineer would sign off on this kind of ‘analysis,'” he wrote in an email, “so they found a planning (not engineering) firm in Boston.”

Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization Director Myron Lee was also troubled by this, saying Conserve Southwest Utah’s analysis “ignores industry standards” and offers unsubstantiated views that new roads create congestion.

“They want to force people to give up cars and live in high-density urbanized housing within a few blocks of where they work,” Lee said in an email. “Their controversial concept may work in Boston, but not in Washington County, Utah.”

Environmental scientist William Mader, former director of the Red Cliffs Desert Preserve, which encompasses the national preserve, argues otherwise. He likens building the highway through the middle of the reserve to removing several arteries from a person’s heart.

“The highway will cause irreversible damage, destroy wildlife, (increase) pollution and increase the risk of wildfires due to invasive weeds,” Mader said.

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