Opponents say proposed Utah Lake bridge not financially viable, 'smells of scam'

PROVO (Deseret News) — A proposal to build a bridge across Utah Lake is coming under attack — again.

Officials with the conglomeration of environmental groups advocating for a no-build alternative to the Utah Crossing Inc. plan say the proposed bridge is not financially viable.

"We've asked the state to immediately reject the (Utah Crossing) proposal because we believe it smells of a scam," said Marc Heileson of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club.

After analyzing the Mountainland Association of Governments' 2030 travel model plan, Vermont-based consulting firm Smart Mobility Inc. concluded it would take 58 to 87 years of collecting tolls to pay for the first phase of the proposed six-mile, $300 million, privately funded bridge — without considering any interest due.

The association's model was created through a software program that takes into account a multitude of information, including probable population growth, and looks at all existing and proposed roads. It then predicts which routes people will take to go to school, the mall, work, the grocery store, or elsewhere in the next 20 to 30 years and estimates the number of cars that will take each route, said Andrew Jackson, Mountainland Association of Governments director.

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