Luxuriating in an unprecedented state surplus, the Utah Department of Transportation's cash on hand for the fiscal year beginning July 1 totals just under $1.42 billion, helped along by the biggest appropriation in 10 years.
But a solid spending list is still a few weeks away. "The Legislature gave us the money. Now we are brainstorming," said Charles Larsen, UDOT's comptroller.
Still, early priority lists handed out to Capitol budgeteers are good indications of where UDOT and the Transportation Commission will focus, including four Interstate 80 bridges and five congestion chokepoints in Davis County, seven in Salt Lake County and six in Utah County.
The maintenance budget got a $1.5 million bump, $3.8 million will offset inflation in petroleum-based materials and an annual $90 million infusion will pay off $1 billion in bonds for the $2 billion Mountain View Corridor on the west side of Salt Lake County and northern Utah County.
A rest stop in Logan Canyon, where UDOT has finished reconstruction of U.S. 89 from the canyon summit to Garden City, will be operated and maintained under a $75,000 allocation. The bridges will get $30 million. And a $3.3 million budget increase will go to traffic signals around the state.
A major budget coup is the $249 million that will be dedicated to finishing up Centennial Highway Fund projects without borrowing any more money. Those projects include the Legacy Parkway; I-80 reconstruction from State Street to Parleys Canyon; improvements to 3500 South and the Bangerter Highway; and the Ogden I-15 overhaul.
Larsen said UDOT will have a list to take to the Transportation Commission for spending approval by the third week in April. Though the lists handed to lawmakers included costs, projects probably will need some tweaking "and sometimes a little more design," he said.
Wasatch Front Regional Council spokesman Sam Klemm said the metropolitan planning agency fully supports the projects UDOT has made priorities, in particular the $249 million for Centennial Highway projects.
Because no more loans will be necessary, all those projects, originally estimated to cost $3.5 billion, will be paid off in just 12 years.
And yet, with the state needing at least $16.5 billion to meet the costs of projects already on long-range plans, all this money isn't enough.
There still is no clear way to pay for the $3 billion reconstruction of I-15 in Utah County, which has been on the top of UDOT's priority list for years. Washington County needs a new highway to its new airport. Salt Lake County needs to upgrade east-west arterials; a bill passed during the Legislature gave UDOT $3.5 million to study east-west road needs in all the urban areas.
"They've got big-ticket jobs still coming at them," said Klemm. "They're a long way out from not needing more money."
