The Bypass: UDOT’s Heber Valley Corridor Live
UDOT’s plan
UDOT plans a four-lane freeway around the west side of Heber City. Its two routes, A and B, are the same road for most of their length. They take different paths in one stretch, from Potter Lane and College Way to 900 North.
In that stretch, Route A rebuilds US-40 as a freeway. Route B leaves US-40 on new ramps and crosses the North Fields, and US-40 stays a street. UDOT prefers Route B. This page states the plan in UDOT’s own words and numbers. The case for Route A is on the first page.
Sources: DEIS, pp. 2-25 to 2-30, p. 2-43
Sources: DEIS, p. 2-33, p. 3-80, p. 3-192, p. 2-35
UDOT, October 23, 2026 “Though these potential refinements are being considered for both Alternatives A and B for evaluation purposes, Alternative B remains UDOT’s preferred alternative.” UDOT project page
Section 1
What UDOT wants to build
West of Heber City, both routes build the same new road: four 12-foot lanes, a 50-foot median, and a trail, inside a right-of-way 250 feet wide. Most traffic enters and leaves at interchanges. The speed limit is 65 mph on the new road west of Heber City, and on Route B across the North Fields. The 900 North segment is 45 mph, and the 1300 South leg to south US-40 has two lanes at 45 mph.
On north US-40, Route A rebuilds the highway with four lanes, a 14-foot median, frontage roads, and a trail. It builds interchanges at Potter Lane and College Way and at Coyote Canyon Parkway. Route B keeps US-40 between Potter Lane and 900 North as a street with signals and adds turn lanes, because its new road runs across the North Fields to the west.
South of 900 North, the two routes are the same road along the west side of Heber City to US-189 near the airport, with the 1300 South leg to south US-40.
Sources: DEIS, p. 2-25, Figure 2.4-3, pp. 2-26 to 2-27, Figure 2.4-4, p. 2-30
The two designs, in UDOT’s figures
| Road | Design |
|---|---|
| New road west of Heber City (both routes) and Route B across the North Fields | Four 12-foot lanes, 50-foot median, trail. Right-of-way 250 feet. Roadway with median 122 feet. |
| Route A on north US-40 | Four 12-foot lanes, 14-foot median, 12-foot shoulders, 24-foot frontage roads, trail. UDOT gives no total width. |
| North US-40 today | Roadway 86 feet. |
Sources: DEIS, p. 2-25, p. 2-27
Section 2
Why UDOT says the valley needs it
UDOT forecasts the year 2050. With no project, traffic on north US-40 grows from about 25,400 to 48,100 cars a day. The evening trip from SR-32 through downtown Heber City to US-189 takes more than twice as long. US-40 with no project has 152 to 157 conflict points, the driveways and side streets where vehicles can cross paths. UDOT’s screening gave the free-flow forms of both routes 1 conflict point. DEIS, p. 2-36, Appendix 2B, p. 20
The evening trip through town, with no project
Source: DEIS, p. 1-26
Main Street, cars a day
Compared with no project in 2050, Route A cuts Main Street traffic by 16%, and Route B by 21%.
Sources: DEIS, p. 3-109, p. 2-35, p. 3-74
The regional traffic model comes from the Mountainland Association of Governments, the Wasatch Front Regional Council, UDOT, and Summit County. The 2024 update used new growth assumptions, with approved developments, land use plans, and statewide projections. It forecast about 30% more traffic on north US-40 and 10% more on Main Street than the earlier model. DEIS, pp. 1-11 to 1-12, p. 2-3
Section 3
How 23 ideas became two
UDOT screened each idea in three levels: a first check, then purpose, then impacts. The number in each row is the count of build ideas that UDOT kept at that step, not counting the option of no action.
- 17Fall 2021 UDOT shows 17 build ideas from scoping and from earlier studies, and the option of no action. DEIS, p. 2-5
- 23Fall 2021 The public adds six more. DEIS, p. 2-5
- 52022 to 2023 Three levels of screening drop 18 ideas: transit, a bridge or tunnel, six US-40 ideas such as widening, three east routes, and seven west routes. Five west routes pass. DEIS, p. 2-6, DEIS, p. 2-7
- 82024 A new regional traffic model forecasts more traffic on north US-40. The five routes no longer meet the purpose, so UDOT redesigns them as eight ideas. DEIS, p. 2-9
- 2March 2025 Screening keeps two free-flow routes: Alternatives A and B. DEIS, p. 2-21
- 2January 2026 The Draft EIS studies both routes and names Alternative B as the preferred route. UDOT makes the final selection in the Record of Decision. DEIS, p. 2-42
UDOT’s main reasons for Route B
In UDOT’s own words, from the Draft EIS:
- UDOT prefers Route B “primarily because it would perform best with respect to the overall purpose of the project.” DEIS Summary, p. S-23
- Route B “would result in the best overall local mobility via Main Street because it would have better intersection and arterial levels of service, shorter travel time, and shorter vehicle queues compared to Alternative A.” DEIS Appendix 2E, p. 10
- Route B “would remove more traffic, in particular regional traffic and trucks, from the downtown area.” DEIS, p. 4-37
- “Alternative A would require more than 3 times the number of relocations compared to Alternative B.” DEIS, p. 2-46
- Under Section 4(f), UDOT “determined that Alternative B would result in the least overall harm.” UDOT says Route B “performs better for five of the seven factors: the four factors related to use of Section 4(f) resources, and the factor related to an alternative’s ability to meet the project purpose and need.” Route A would demolish 4 eligible historic structures, and Route B 1. UDOT says it “may approve only the alternative that causes the least overall harm.” DEIS, p. 2-44, DEIS, p. 4-40, DEIS Appendix 2F, p. 14
- On the wetland permit: “An alternative that cannot be identified by both analyses as the least harmful is not practicable.” DEIS, p. 2-45
- Route A “would increase traffic on north US-40 by about 8,500 vehicles per day.” Route B would lower it by about 7,600. DEIS, p. 2-35, DEIS, p. 2-37
- With Route A, access to north US-40 would be at the interchanges, “resulting in all traffic on the east side of north US-40 being forced to use SR-32, College Way, or Coyote Canyon Parkway to access US-40.” DEIS Appendix 2E, p. 14
- Route B is “more consistent with the master-planned North Village local road network.” DEIS, p. 2-46
- With Route A, if north US-40 closes between Potter Lane/College Way and 900 North, “all traffic heading north out of the Heber Valley would be required to take River Road.” DEIS Appendix 2E, p. 22
- “UDOT is committed to no additional interchanges between Potter Lane/College Way and SR-113 being built in the north fields.” DEIS, p. 3-24
- UDOT also finds: “Alternative A has greater potential to increase pressure for development along the west side of north US-40 because of its frontage roads and thereby cause indirect impacts to land use.” DEIS, p. 3-24
- UDOT also commits: “UDOT is committed to prioritizing wetland mitigation in the north fields.” DEIS, p. 2-46
Where the decision stands
- Notice of IntentMay 2021
- Draft EISJanuary 2026
- Comments closeMarch 2026
- Refinements studiedOctober 2026Now
- Final EIS and Record of DecisionSpring 2027
UDOT selects the route in its Record of Decision. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decides the wetland permit. As of the Draft EIS (January 2026), no construction money existed for either route. The state long-range plan lists the bypass in its unfunded phase. The same page of the DEIS says that “Projects in the unfunded phase are still needed, and funding priorities can change.” DEIS, p. 1-13, p. 2-45