Two federal agencies - the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - issued final approvals of the project, formally ending the three-year supplemental environmental impact study. In addition, the Corps issued a permit clearing the way for work to resume on the 14-mile parkway and surrounding nature preserve.

"With this process complete, we can now move on to the business of providing some much-needed congestion relief in northern Utah," John Thomas, UDOT's Legacy Parkway director, said.

UDOT and the former plaintiffs in the case that forced the supplemental environmental study will now go to U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to lift the injunction that has shut down the project since November 2001. The court is expected to lift the injunction within the next month.

Thomas says he expects Legacy work will restart on the north and south interchanges in early March. Heavy construction will get under way later this summer.

The estimated $685 million highway project is expected to open to traffic in late 2008.

- Joe Baird