Utah County's Interstate 15 traffic jam will get no relief and the Mountain View freeway will stay on the drawing board with dozens of other state highway projects because of plummeting tax receipts, transportation officials announced Thursday.

No road construction that isn't currently under contract will go forward. The state is indefinitely shelving $3.9 billion in projects -- led by the $2.6 billion lawmakers previously steered toward I-15 in Utah County -- but continuing work on $2 billion in current projects.

"It's the responsible thing to do," Utah Department of Transportation executive director John Njord said.

Responsible, maybe, but jarring to Utah Valley drivers.

David Darling of Provo said traffic is so bad that the state cannot afford to wait.

"It took me an extra half-hour to get to the Jazz game," Darling said. "There was a traffic jam and no accident going northbound. It was ridiculous."

The moratorium leaves plans for I-15 in Utah County, Mountain View in western Salt Lake County and State Route 201 (from Bangerter Highway to 5600 West) in limbo, waiting for direction from legislators who convene in January. The only way to keep those projects and 47 more moving during the economic slump would be through a combination of tax hikes.

"If we waited until the legislative session was upon us," Njord said, "there would be many [new] contracts we'd have let that would put us in a deeper hole."

Such a massive screeching halt apparently is unprecedented in Utah, although the state did hold up some Centennial Highway Fund projects during the 2002 economic downturn, Njord said.

UDOT's decision will make an enormous dent in the construction industry, said Richard Thorn, president and CEO of the Associated General Contractors of Utah, whose members do most of the road-building in the state.

"That's got to affect a lot of bodies," Thorn said. " … But at the end of the day the jobs have been suspended, not canceled, and that gives us confidence that in the future this work will proceed and will be ramped up again."

"It's going to have a ripple effect on the whole economy," added Brent Smith, vice president of business development for commercial-construction firm Clyde Cos., which contracts with UDOT on a number of projects.

Elsewhere, Virginia, Kansas and Maryland already have squeezed road building this year, and federal aid is in question as the highway fund is expected to be bankrupt next year.

Transportation now becomes a top priority for the upcoming legislative session, said Senate President-elect Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville.

"Maybe there's a middle ground -- a scaled-back version we could do of these projects," he said. "At this point, all options are open and it shows good management [by UDOT] to put them on hold until we can have more direction."

Lawmakers will consider a gas-tax boost, a vehicle-mileage charge, a quarter-cent sales-tax bump and other options to salvage the top road priorities, said Rep. Wayne Harper, House chairman of the transportation budget committee. He hopes to keep I-15 and Mountain View going.

"We are going to have to address additional revenue sources for transportation in the next session," said Harper, R-West Jordan. "It's too critical to the economy of the state and the needs of the residents of Utah."

Mountain View -- which has not been ruled out as a toll road -- is a $3 billion project envisioned to connect the western Salt Lake Valley with I-80 in the north and I-15 at Lehi in the south. It's partially funded, and UDOT's freeze involves only $290 million previously budgeted to start the project. Another $70 million aimed at Salt Lake County property purchase is not affected.

Absent new revenues, though, this project and the others go back on Utah's wish list.

The trouble is declining sales, with tax revenues off almost 9 percent for the fiscal year that began in July -- down to $585 million from $640 million during the same four-month period last year.

Gas taxes also are off by 11.4 percent. That's a $10 million loss.

Shriveling annual revenues leave state officials unsure how much money they will have to pay off billions in bonds that would finance the highways. Instead of risking it, they're waiting for an income upswing.

News of the I-15 stoppage startled Utah County Commission Chairman Gary Anderson.

"Holy cow," he said. "That just doesn't make sense to me."

Utah County badly needs the new lanes, and the state should recognize that it also does on its major north-south trucking route. "Between the Point of the Mountain and Spanish Fork, we're just a parking lot," Anderson said.

Utah County has waited its turn as Salt Lake County got a rebuilt I-15 before the 2002 Winter Olympics and then Weber and Davis counties got freeway upgrades (along with Legacy Parkway).

"It's Utah County's turn," Anderson said. "This is devastating news. We're going to have to find some other way to get it done."

The head of Utah County's regional transportation-planning group said he isn't surprised, given the worsening economic news nationwide. Delay appears the only option outside of a "massive tax increase" that seems unlikely, said Darrell Cook, executive director of the Mountainland Association of Governments.

"You can't bond and start building a project if you haven't got the revenue source to pay the bills," he said. "I don't want to get a project partially built and have to shut down in the middle. That would be worse than not starting."

Maybe it's time to raise taxes, according to ReNae Brereton of Lindon. UDOT's announcement should prod state and local governments to find the money or provide alternatives to clogged freeways.

"We in Utah County think we get the short end on a regular basis," Brereton said.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. appreciates UDOT's predicament and bold action, spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said. Road delays could help "assuage other areas" in a tough budget year, she said.

bloomis@sltrib.com

Tribune reporters Donald W. Meyers, Paul Beebe and Lesley Mitchell contributed to this story.