The problems that we have created cannot be solved at the level of thinking that created them.

On Monday, September 16, the US 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Utahns for Better Transportation, the Sierra Club and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson who all questioned the wisdom and the legality of building the Legacy Parkway on the shores of Great Salt Lake. It was a great day for highway opponents and for all Utahns who deserve better transportation solutions for their growing transportation needs. The unanimous decision handed down by the three-judge panel found that the environmental impact statement (EIS) completed for the Legacy Parkway violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). And that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was "arbitrary and capricious" in issuing a CWA 404 permit for the project.

I think it's fair to say that the basis of these violations was grounded in a deliberate lack of thoroughness and a hasty analysis of a suite of suitable and practicable alternatives that would not only have addressed the transportation needs in the North Corridor but would have also been far less damaging to the wetlands and wildlife of the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem.

The Legacy EIS improperly eliminated a project alternative based on an inadequate estimate of the alternative's cost. This alternative was the Denver & Rio Grande alignment. And in its zeal to push the Legacy Parkway project through, the Department of Transportation (UDOT) also failed to consider whether mass transit projects should be built in conjunction with the widening of I-15 before beginning construction of Legacy.

So, what's next?

We now have an extraordinary opportunity. The court's ruling provides the opportunity for Utah to move forward with a balanced transportation program that offers more and better choices in the least environmentally damaging way. This balance would maintain not only our quality of life but also protect those special places, like Great Salt Lake.

To do that, UDOT and the federal agencies need to engage in a thorough and open, public process. They need to consider new baselines of information and current models to determine how to meet these needs. That means they can't tweak their way to a result. Former Mayor Ted Wilson referred to a "new ethic", a change in practice in the way public works development projects are determined. We should expect nothing less from UDOT and the federal agencies in the process ahead.

In saline,

Lynn de Freitas