The newest proposal for expanding the I-15 in Salt Lake City and Davis County has doubled in cost, from 1.6 billion in the spring proposal to 3.7 billion, according to The West View. Representatives from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) were in attendance at a public hearing. UDOT representatives said the original estimate was several years ago, and WFRC said that the cost could be due to the project expanding.
In the West Side story it states that even while UDOT makes concessions and modifies their plans for I-15, community opposition to the expansion remains strong; this is especially true for those living near the freeway in Salt Lake City.
At an official Public Hearing session at the Utah State Fairpark, several area residents took to the microphones to express their anger at the entire project. Lucy Cardenas, owner of Red Iguana in the Fairpark neighborhood, said the plan was a mistake. “I am 100% opposed to expanding the I-15,” she said. Cardenas was more in favor of expanding and improving transit options instead, saying that “it’s a matter of reeducating our people to not depend on cars so much.”
A fight is brewing on Utah’s Capitol Hill between home builders and cities, according to KSL. A bill passed this week and awaits a vote in the House could allow builders and to pick their own inspectors. Supporters say it’s a way to get home inspections done quicker and better, saving money in the process. But opponents argue it introduces a host of problems that could be dangerous for homebuyers. “We feel like when the entity that’s being regulated picks their own regulator, that creates a potential conflict of interest that can undermine public safety,” said Cam Diehl, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns.
Hoping it will streamline the implementation of Utah’s 2020 trigger abortion ban should the Utah Supreme Court uphold it, lawmakers are advancing a bill to repeal portions of last year’s legislation that bans abortion clinics, according to the Daily Herald. The Utah House last week approved the bill on a 59-10 vote, with Democrats voting against. Monday, the bill won approval from a Senate committee.
Last year, the Utah Legislature passed a bill to end licensing and operation of abortion clinics and requiring that abortions be performed in hospitals with limited exceptions. The bill’s passage came as lawmakers waited for a lawsuit currently tying up Utah’s trigger law that bans almost all abortions in Utah.
The Utah State Senate passed a bill that helps build a National Hockey League arena, according to Fox News. The bill creates a sports and entertainment district in Salt Lake City. Lawmakers are proposing to allow Salt Lake City to raise the sales tax to provide some funding toward the project.
The bill that helps build a National Hockey League will now move on to the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to use sales tax money to help fund a Major League Baseball stadium. That bill was rewritten partly to appease some rural Utah lawmakers who objected to hotel taxes being raised statewide to pay for it.
As dreams of bringing an NHL team to Salt Lake City continue to skate through the minds of Utah hockey fans, a newly-released rendering shows what the home for a club could possibly look like.
The Smith Entertainment Group shared the rendering with FOX 13 News on Tuesday, just as a bill that would help bring a team to northern Utah makes its way through the legislature.
There is now about $900 million being allocated to a MLB team coming to Salt Lake City. There is also a big corporate hand-out to get an NHL team to Utah which will offer corporate welfare tax breaks to Utah’s billionaire Jazz Owner Ryan Smith. Both of these measures could be great ideas for bolstering Salt Lake City booming growth and downtown economy. I love the rendering of what 100 South looking West could look like an “entertainment district” as Smith envisions.
But what about affordable housing? We keep bringing this up. All we can see is that Governor Cox wants to make it possible for Utahns to have access to 35,000 starter homes in the next five years.
*Content for this article curated from other sources.
