Details of the "agreement in principle," a legal term for a willingness to enter an agreement subject to certain conditions, are not ready for public release, said Marc Heileson of the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club, a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
After negotiating with UDOT for six months, "we're very, very close to having this principled agreement," Heileson said Friday. "It will be a win for the environment, win for transportation, and a win for Utah because it will make tomorrow better than today."
But there could be a hitch: Release of the preliminary details from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s office during an interim legislative session Wednesday led to negative responses from some lawmakers. That has Heileson wondering if a legally binding confidentiality agreement has been breached and whether that signals a coming political or legal battle the two sides had hoped to avoid.
"I was pretty upset," Heileson said, adding he was confident in UDOT's willingness to continue negotiating in good faith. "UDOT did not break a confidentiality agreement; it came out of the Governor's Office. That was speaking out of school," Heileson said. "We're disappointed, but we're hoping any damage caused can be repaired."
Because UDOT is part of the executive branch, the governor has to approve any settlement proposal before lawmakers can take it up. Mike Mower, Huntsman's legislative liaison, said the Governor's Office is "reviewing and refining details of a negotiation" and would work with House and Senate committee members assigned to evaluate the settlement.
"We are very anxious to move this proposal forward," Mower said.
UDOT officials have acknowledged the Sierra Club and Utahns for Better Transportation largely have been in control of what happens to the highway since November 2001. That's when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted construction of the 14-mile section of the proposed 100-mile Legacy Highway project after finding UDOT's environmental impact study unacceptable.
UDOT for a time seemed resigned to more legal action even if it produced a new environmental study, and figured starting the project - initially costing an estimated $451 million but now climbing toward $690 million - could be delayed until 2009.
The citizens' groups have said their alternative would cost hundreds of millions of dollars less than Legacy, would save more than 80 acres of wetlands and decrease commute times. UDOT would have had to respond to the alternative as part of the final environmental study expected by January. Instead, the two sides decided to try for a compromise, and have been negotiating since January.
Both sides said they have been quite pleased with how the talks have gone.
"It's been an incredibly positive process we've been through here," said UDOT communications chief Tom Hudachko.
"I don't know what's gotten us there. I would imagine just the fact of spending more time with one another," he said. "We also came to the realization that we've got some good ideas and they've got some good ideas. . . . It's just the function of an open mind."
Hudachko and Heileson both expressed dismay and some bewilderment about what lawmakers may have voted on Wednesday.
"We went to the House caucus meetings and we were asked to leave before any votes were taken," Hudachko said. "We supplied them with an update. We gave them a Power Point presentation on the details on the negotiations to this point."
Added Heileson, "Nobody wants to go back to court again."
Chris Bleak, chief of staff to House Speaker Greg Curtis, wouldn't say whether a vote was taken Wednesday during a House Republican caucus. Rather, he characterized the closed-door proceedings as an "escalation" in the process that could eventually allow the highway construction to proceed.
"Bringing in the legislative branch signals we're working toward an agreement," he said. "They need a legislative buy-in to get this done."
No votes of any kind were taken in Senate Republican caucuses, said Majority Leader Sen. Pete Knudson.
"The negotiations have been between the Department of Transportation and the Sierra Club and that group," said the Brigham City lawmaker. "There was nothing presented to us to consider."
Should the state and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit come to an agreement, the governor would have to approve it before turning it over to the Legislature, which has jurisdiction over any matter that could cost the state more than $1 million.
Lawmakers would then craft a resolution that would have to be approved by both chambers to be binding.
What UDOT, environmentalists offered
Details of a preliminary Legacy Parkway settlement agreement between the Sierra Club and Utahns for Better Transportation and the state Department of Transportation have not been released publicly.
But at the start of the negotiations in January, the environmental groups have been pushing for what they call the "Citizens' Smart Growth Alternative." That would:
Expand Redwood Road to the Legacy right-of-way west of I-15 or along the current frontage road east of I-15 to the U.S. 89 interchange in Farmington.
South of Centerville, Redwood Road would be six lanes wide. North of Parrish Lane in Centerville it would be four lanes.
UDOT has preferred:
A four-lane divided highway that would follow the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake.
Both plans would:
Widen I-15 to 10 lanes between Kaysville and Salt Lake City.
Include a wetlands preserve
Incorporate bus rapid transit and commuter rail, though the Citizens' plan would bring the mass transit on-line sooner.
