Sales Tax Fund to Fuel Millions in Road Work

Transportation - Earmark will provide $71 million next year, $113 million by 2015. 

By Lee Davidson 

The Salt Lake Tribune 

First Published Apr 13 2012 01:13 pm • Last Updated Apr 14 2012 11:39 pm

Transportation officials figure that a new law earmarking 30 percent of growth in sales tax revenue for highway construction will generate more than expected. And the Utah Transportation Commission approved a list of projects Friday on which it hopes to spend that money over the next several years. 

Gov. Gary Herbert last year vetoed SB229, which earmarked that sales tax growth for road work, arguing it would hinder the state’s ability to address other needs such as education. But the Legislature overrode his veto. 

Debate at the time estimated the change could generate $60 million a year for highways, depending on how quickly Utah’s economy grows. The Utah Department of Transportation now projects it will generate $70.9 million in 2013 (the first year of such earmarks), $86 million in 2014 and $113.6 million in 2015. 


Read More

UDOT announces more than 200 summer road construction projects

A recent Deseret News article talks about the more than 200 summer UDOT projects that will be going on costing an estimated $4 billion. 

SOUTH JORDAN — Motorists traveling east on Daybreak View Parkway past Herriman High School pass signs warning of construction, but Thursday afternoon, only a few construction workers and trucks are visible. Many of the residents at the Timbergate apartment complex across the street weren't even sure what was being built there. 

It won't be that way for long. 

The site is one of more than 200 projects the Utah Department of Transportation will be working on for the rest of the year, a record in the state. UDOT estimates the projects will cost just under an estimated $4 billion. 

"There's a lot of pain coming," said Robert Stewart, I-15 CORE deputy project director for UDOT. 

Read More Now. (Deseret News) 
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865553564/UDOT-announces-more-than-200-summer-road-construction-projects.html