But it's either that or face a traffic snarl of biblical proportions come 2011, when the state finally gets around to rebuilding I-15 through their communities.

We recently learned that the Utah Transit Authority's plan to run a temporary commuter rail service to Utah County, helping to bypass the four-year death and resurrection of I-15, has hit a snag. Unless the whole of that county joins UTA, the agency won't be able to rent the necessary Union Pacific Railroad track. UP, it seems, doesn't want to let UTA play choo-choo there unless all the communities can tax themselves to extend the FrontRunner into Utah County so the UP can, eventually, get its track back.

It would be tempting to say that Utah County has brought this fate upon itself, having dawdled over the issue for more than 20 years. But a great many of the individuals who would be trapped staring at one another's taillights are not personally to blame. They didn't even live there through years of debate. (The county's population of 435,000 is an 18 percent jump since 2000.)

Many more are travelers, and truckers, just passing through on one of the nation's most important land routes.

Those are good reasons for Utah County to expect whatever state and federal help it will receive in dealing with its many traffic needs. But the local folks are going to have to step up, too. And soon.

Just as quickly as can be arranged, the parts of Utah County that have not already done so will need to vote themselves into the UTA. And then, perhaps in the same election, voters can decide whether to impose new taxes on themselves for the support of public transit.

UTA already has 95 percent of Utah County's taxpayers, including the main cities of Orem and Provo. But bits and pieces, even large bits and pieces, won't be enough to guarantee all the political, legal and financial stability it will take to bring Utah County's needed transit offerings up to express speed in the short time available.

Unless Utah County as a whole joins UTA, and soon, they'll be rebuilding I-15 for years and there won't be commuter rail to provide an alternative.