Just before Christmas, Tooele County closed on the last parcel of property for the first phase of the Midvalley Highway.
Tooele County paid $1.8 million for eight parcels of land between Interstate 80 and state Route 138 at Sheep Lane. The total land purchased was 222.4 acres, making the average price of $8,145 per acre.
The highway corridor consists of 177 acres. An additional 45 acres was purchased for future interchanges. The future interchanges are sites where extension roads, such as Village Boulevard, are planned to connect with the highway, according to Houghton.
An appraisal was completed by an independent appraiser for each parcel and the price paid by the county for the property was not more than the appraised price, according to Tooele County Recorder Jerry Houghton.
“The property owners were good to work with,” he said. “Most of them said they had heard about the highway and expected this to happen someday. None of them contested the appraised values.”
In August 2015, the county contracted with the West Jordan-based firm, Project Engineering Consultants, to perform work related to property acquisition for the first phase of the Midvalley Highway for $266,650.
PEC did the requisite engineering and survey work, and identified the proposed route and the property involved, according to Houghton.
Earlier this year, Houghton held informational meetings with property owners and started negotiations with them.
The first bought parcel was 2.1 acres from Flint Richards in June 2016.
The last parcels purchased were two parcels purchased from Six Mile Ranch owned by Craig, John and Mark Bleazard. The county paid $1.56 million for 164.5 acres of the Bleazard’s property.
Other parcels purchased included 0.157 acres from Fassio Egg Farms for $6,253; 1.5 acres from Morton Salt for $8,777; 8.8 acres from Charles Warr for $32,713; 22 acres from Kennecott Utah Copper for $84,834; and 24 acres from The Nature Conservancy for $58,821.
Money to pay the engineering firm and buy property for the highway came from the county’s corridor preservation fund, which is restricted for expenses related to acquiring property for Midvalley, according to Houghton.
The money in the corridor preservation fund comes from a $10 fee for all on-road motor vehicle registrations in the county.
Project Engineering Consultants estimate the cost to build a four-lane highway from I-80 near mile marker 94 to SR-138 at Sheep Lane to be $105 million. An interim build of a two-lane highway, along with the I-80 interchange, would be $65 million, according to PEC.
Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville and Doug Sagers, R-Tooele, have been working on state funding for the Midvalley Highway.
“I can’t promise anything, but there is good potential that we can get the Midvalley Highway moved up on the priority list and funded,” Nelson said. “I have high expectations.”
Nelson said his optimism about funding for the highway is based on the county already acquiring rights of way and rapidly increasing traffic volume on state Route 36, which has resulted in safety hazards that should raise the priority level for the highway.
Tooele County joined with the Utah Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration in 2007 to start an environmental impact study on a proposed route for the Midvalley Highway. The $4 million study was completed four years later.
The EIS recommended a route for the Midvalley Highway that leaves I-80 at a new interchange near milepost 94 and heads southwest until it meets SR-138 just west of Sheep Lane.
At SR-138 the Midvalley Highway turns southeast and crosses Sheep Lane and Erda Way before it intersects Utah Avenue east of the Ninigret and Peterson Industrial Depot. From state Route 112 the highway will run south and then turn southeast to connect with SR-36 just outside Tooele City limits.
From I-80 to SR-112 the current road design for Midvalley Highway calls for a freeway with interchanges at SR-138, a future east-west collection route south of Erda Way and at 1000 North. From SR-112 to SR-36 the design calls for a surface highway.
PEC estimated the cost for the full build out of the Midvalley Highway to be $396 million.
Jared Hamner, executive director of the Tooele County Chamber of Commerce, has advocated for the highway since he became the chamber’s director in 2012.
The Midvalley Highway is needed for both safety and economic development, according to Hamner.
“We have companies that want to locate here because they like the resources we have out here, but the only obstacle is transportation,” Hamner said. “They need a better route for their trucks. As a chamber, we are thrilled that the Midvalley Highway is progressing. It will open new opportunities for the county.”