UDOT says the bypass will not eliminate traffic from Heber City on Main Street

It appears Heber City and Wasatch County councils can’t address all concerns about a new bypass on US 40.

Craig Hancock of the Utah Department of Transportation said traffic on Heber City’s main street won’t change dramatically no matter what the bypass looks like.

“I think we will be able to reduce congestion to an acceptable level,” Hancock said. “Growth will always be there and will solve some of the congestion problems, but Main Street will always be busy.”

Hancock presented a traffic study to the Wasatch County Council on Wednesday – UDOT’s latest step in the process of establishing a bypass route on US 40, which has become increasingly congested. UDOT has been discussing the proposed bypass with the Heber City Council and Wasatch County Council for years and has presented several iterations of route options to both entities.

As UDOT has begun researching the required environmental impact statement, the organization has set a more specific deadline, which Hancock reiterated at Wednesday’s county council meeting.

Hancock outlined key milestones, including a draft environmental impact statement that they will submit by fall 2025 and a record of the decision the following spring of 2026. By fall 2025, Hancock said, the draft environmental impact statement will include the preferred bypass route alternatives.

“Schedule-wise, we’re still doing well,” Hancock said.

In UDOT’s traffic study presentation, Hancock discussed four bypass route options with estimated times for drivers traveling from SR 32 on the north side to a connection on US 189. According to UDOT’s findings, travel times range from about eight to about 13 minutes.

UDOT’s traffic study also included what Hancock calls “freeflow options,” which would not require drivers to stop if they take the proposed bypass route. These suggestions could save travelers between two and almost seven minutes. When Hancock said drivers today can get SR 32 to US 189 in about 11 minutes and 30 seconds, County Manager Dustin Grabau expressed doubt.

“What time of day is this?” Grabau said. “It takes 15 minutes to get halfway there.”

Hancock said UDOT’s traffic study represents travel times during peak hours.

“In both cases, we see significant time savings with both solutions,” Hancock said of typical and freeflow route alternatives.

The Heber City Council and Wasatch County Council recently expressed concern about the number of semi-trucks on Main Street. Hancock said it’s not as bad as they might think.

“I know this has been a big topic of conversation here in the county and in the city and has caused a lot of concern there about trucks,” Hancock said. “We separated the private vehicles, pickup trucks, vans and passenger vehicles.”

UDOT’s traffic study shows that these vehicles account for about 92 percent of traffic volume during afternoon peak travel times. The other 8 percent comes from all other vehicle types, including semi-trucks.

Hancock said UDOT also broke down the numbers to see how many trucks and vehicles come from US 40 compared to US 189. According to the data, about 19,500 vehicles come from US 189. That compares to the 6,300 vehicles coming from south to north on US 40.

When asked what percentage of travelers are locals, Hancock replied that about 50 percent of traffic during peak hours is local drivers. The other 50 percent is split evenly between what Hancock calls commuter traffic and cars just heading to areas outside the city.

Hancock said UDOT attended meetings with the Utah Natural Resources Conservation Service and Utah Public Lands in December. UDOT is also scheduled to meet with the Wasatch County Council and Heber City Council this month. In January 2025, UDOT plans to continue discussions with the Wasatch Open Lands Board to continue “talking about conservation efforts.”

Related stories