In a last-minute ploy, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, tried to insert language into a transportation bill that would have circumvented any environmental legal action against the disputed 14-mile stretch of four-lane highway in Davis County. But objections from fellow congressional members doomed the provision, frustating the Utah senator.

Environmentalists challenging the proposed highway's passage through Great Salt Lake wetlands had recently reached a tentative agreement with the state to allow the road to go forward.

On Thursday, they cheered their win against Hatch's attempted broadside.

"The problem is a last-minute, underhanded rider would have not only derailed the good-faith negotiations between the state and the plaintiffs but poisoned the well for future good-faith negotiations," said Marc Heileson, regional representative of the Sierra Club. "We're just very glad that this [congressional effort] is over."

But Hatch, who planned the provision to rush through the project that was delayed by a 10th Circuit Court ruling in 2001, lambasted environmentalists for again stalling the project, touted as a solution to heavy congestion between the Salt Lake Valley and northern Utah.

"The people who have now cost the state of Utah what some estimate to be over $300 million made it impossible, with the help of a very few allies in Congress, to get it through," Hatch said in a statement late Thursday. "In my estimation, this issue is not over. My goal is to save our state millions of dollars and get this highway done so the quality of life of those who work south and live north of the project will be improved."

Hatch said he and fellow Republicans Rep. Rob Bishop and Sen. Bob Bennett "did everything we could to get language in the transportation bill" and that it came down to "the wire."

Prompting the congressional move was the court's prior ruling in favor of environmentalists' claims that studies on the road's impacts were unacceptable. A revised, court-ordered evaluation is expected out by January. Hatch, backed by other GOP members of Utah's delegation, had tried to get Congress to say no more environmental studies are needed on the project, clearing the way for its construction.

Hatch's provision apparently had been in and out of the transportation bill several times Thursday as negotiators between the House and Senate worked out nuances between the two chambers' versions. In the end, the provision was axed.

Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Hudachko said he hopes the two sides will be back to work to reach a full-fledged settlement that would allow construction to begin next spring and the road to be completed by late 2008.

"I think we still have plans to continue talking to the plaintiffs and working out some kind of solution where we can deliver this project," Hudachko said.

Because of the project's delay, the price tag has risen from $451 million originally estimated to $684 million, UDOT has estimated.

The tentative agreement between the parties has been circulated among Utah leaders, though the secret deal apparently has yet to be signed. If a settlement is reached soon, Hudachko says UDOT would have to seek bids on the multi-million-dollar contract but could launch construction by spring.

That's good news to Davis County Commissioner Dan McConkie, who said he was unaware of Hatch's effort. He added that he hopes the settlement discussions are fruitful.

"I've had a lot of faith in the negotiations going on," McConkie said. "I'm hopeful that UDOT and the environmental groups can come together on a compromise to get us back to construction."

tburr@sltrib.com