LETTER: Utah, look at Portland

Editor,

I would like to respond to the Legacy Highway article, and Graham Theobald’s response. His belief that “sometimes the needs of nature must come second to human needs” and that “society would die without progress” are commonly held beliefs in conservative Utah.

First, humans depend on nature, so if Mr. Theobald has ever eaten, worn clothes or driven down the road, it’s all thanks to nature. Putting the needs of nature first preserves ourselves.

I would like to know Mr. Theobald’s definition of progress. I’m assuming he thinks that growth is progress; more roads, more cars, more houses equals progress. So zero growth would mean no more progress, and society would crumble. That is the ideology of a cancer cell; continuous growth.

Let me remind those Legacy Highway proponents out there that wetlands are not going to be the only land destroyed by Legacy Highway. Agricultural lands will be taken as well. We are bulldozing our local sources of food and self-sufficiency. “If you build it, they will come” is the correct philosophy of road building.

Take a look at Phoenix. Roads encourage development, urban sprawl and more and more roads to deal with that sprawl. Sierra Club was not totally against a new highway, they proposed that the old rail line would be the best corridor in addition to more extensive mass transit. UDOT though, wanted a six-lane highway, not a four-lane highway. The old rail line is still a viable option, but UDOT won’t admit they screwed up.

If Utah wants to handle its growth, they need to look at Portland’s example of setting growth barriers, high-density housing, and mass transit. Otherwise, we will be building one highway after another, just like L.A.

Kyra Walton