SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Although one resident said the probability of building a bridge across Utah Lake is about as likely as getting a Social Security check when he reaches retirement age, a private firm is trying to make the transportation dream a reality.

"I also feel a little bit powerless because this is a private bridge that the public is saying isn't going to matter as much," resident Krison Cooper said. "It concerns me when it is going to affect me."

Utah Crossing, Inc., a private corporation, is proposing a new east-west road in Utah County that would extend from 800 North in Orem to a destination just north of Pelican Point in Saratoga Springs. The bridge would be privately funded and operated by the company, which would collect tolls to recoup the building costs.

Leon Harward of Utah Crossing and state Rep. Kenneth Sumsion, R-American Fork made a presentation Tuesday evening to the Saratoga Springs City Council.

The council did not decide on an official position, but planned to review materials and discuss the proposal again in order to make a position statement to submit to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands before the end of the public comment period on Oct. 23. City officials also said they encouraged residents to do the same.

The bridge would be built in two phases, the first having a pedestrian/bike lane with four lanes of traffic. The second or "future" phase would add an additional lane each direction.

There would be spans supported by concrete and steel pylons, with a typical span extending about 150 feet. The 5.8 mile bridge would be 35 feet above the surface of the lake except in the center where it would raise to 50 feet. That would be high enough for the largest boats allowed on Utah Lake to pass under, according to Harward.

From start to finish, Harward said he believes Utah Crossing could complete the first phase in three years. The second phase would come later as demand increased and tolls paid for it.

"To give a little perspective for the history of this project, when I ran for office four years ago, everyone was yelling at me that we needed transportation," Sumsion said. "I looked at the map and said we had to cross the lake."

Calling it the best stimulus package to ever hit Utah, Harward said there would be no risk to the state.

"We plan on using all local labor and all local materials," Harward said.

He said the project would have to be completely funded and bonded before construction could begin, guaranteeing the bridge would be completed.

Mayor Timothy Parker and the Saratoga City Council said they weren't against Utah Crossing's plan, but did raise some concerns.

"I think that as elected officials of Saratoga Springs, we need to look at balancing the cost of this bridge in terms of the potential negative effect it will have against the positive effect it will have," Parker said. "We need to look at it from a regional perspective, but as officials of Saratoga we have to be concerned about the cost to Saratoga residents."

Parker said he was specifically concerned about where the bridge would come to land in Saratoga Springs at Pelican Point. He said the bridge wasn't coming out where an existing road would connect, and also that Pelican Point was too far north.

Calling it a "bridge to nowhere," Councilman Cecil Tuley said the plan didn't have connections to major roads at either end. Sumsion said that was the way to get transportation attention to an area.

"As traffic comes to it, UDOT and MAG (Mountainland Association of Governments) start to look at it, and those projects start to percolate up," Sumsion said.

Since the bridge would be built by private funds rather than through the state, the typical public oversight is different for the project. Utah Crossing wouldn't need a full environmental study, but more limited studies to obtain a lease from the state of Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

"They are having a process to determine whether or not to issue a lease to you. But it is not the same process as say the Mountain View Corridor or any other publicly funded project," said Ken Leetham, Saratoga Springs city manager. "This project alignment is not going to go through the same public review or public comment to select two or three alignment options."

He also said he was concerned about bankruptcy consequences of the project.

"We want the project to succeed, because we don't want a blighted area of the city," he said. "I think it is safe to say that our city should be concerned about the viability of the project."

Comments on the project can be submitted at www.ffsl.utah.gov/sovlands/utahlake/bridgecrossing.php. Further information on the bridge is also available at www.UtahCrossing.com.

Related

• Developer says Utah Lake bridge to be done in 3 years
• Bridge meeting addresses public’s concerns