Legislative Watch 
LEGISLATIVE
11/3/05-Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has put a call out to state lawmakers to meet in special session Nov. 9.
The only item up for consideration is the settlement agreement between the Utah Department of Transportation and conservation groups that successfully sued to stop construction of the Legacy Parkway.
The conservation groups and the highway agency reached an out-of-court settlement Oct. 31. It still must gain approval from legislators in an up-or-down vote. Further approval would be required in federal court.
Transportation officials said construction on the 14-mile, four-lane scenic route from Salt Lake City to Farmington could start next spring and open by 2008, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Under the settlement proposal, large trucks and billboards would be banned from the parkway that is expected to run parallel to Interstate 15. The speed limit would be 55 mph.
The Legacy Parkway was proposed in the late 1990s by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt as part of a 120-mile highway from Brigham City to Nephi.
It has been held up in court battles since late 2001. Construction was halted when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals found fault with UDOT’s environmental impact study. The Sierra Club was joined by several other environmental groups in objecting to the highway’s proximity to and impact on the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake.
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