But that step won't take motorists very far unless the funds are soon paired with alternatives to the one-person-one-car mentality that, along with population growth, is keeping the freeways crowded.

This tax hike, if approved by voters, will be designated for road improvements, particularly widening of I-15. It would raise $12 million a year and could be leveraged to get matching state and federal funds. Voters should approve it. Then they should demand that the county begin to catch up to Salt Lake County in mass-transit options.

The freeway undoubtedly needs updating to handle the increasing numbers of cars that use it. But, as Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Hudachko, said, "We'll never be able to build our way out of [congestion]. There's got to be some changes in behavior."

The county commission could begin to encourage those necessary changes by widening its transportation focus to include long-range alternatives such as commuter trains and light rail, options that other Wasatch Front communities have adopted or have in the works already.

The temptation to take a shortsighted view of the problem is strong. The list of roads that need to be built or widened is so long, commissioners reason, there will be no funds left to hook into the mass-transit commuter-rail system that is being planned to connect Salt Lake and northern Weber County, for example.

But, as Hudachko said, road building alone is not the answer. Getting people out of their cars and into commuter trains would help reduce unhealthy pollution and ease congestion and the expense of rebuilding and maintaining complex highway systems.

Travel along the Wasatch Front is expected to jump 76 percent as population increases 54 percent in the coming 25 years. Vehicles account for about 80 percent of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in the air. Decreasing vehicle traffic by 200,000 vehicle miles per day, as experts say mass transit could do, would help make breathing easier.

A recent mobility study reports Utahns are spending 29 more hours in traffic delays per individual driver annually than they were in 1982. More and bigger highways can help lessen all that idle time, but commuter and light rail can mean virtually no traffic stalls for people who take advantage of the mass transit options.

Those options should be available to Utah County residents, as well as their northern neighbors.