The Times-Independent

The commission votes down a popular idea: a bypass



The commission three weeks ago voted to take a position against planning for a Highway 191 bypass in Moab, to the chagrin of what one survey suggests is a majority of Moab residents.

A tractor-trailer makes its way through downtown Moab on Thursday. Photo by Carter Pape

On Tuesday, the commission, as expected, took a further step of requesting to remove the bypass from a list of priority transportation projects for the valley. The Utah Department of Transportation will use the list, which might soon lack the bypass, to make decisions about funding or not funding projects in the area.

An alliance of businesses on and near Main Street sent a letter to the commission in the lead-up to the Tuesday meeting, requesting a letter of support from the commission for the bypass. The businesses include Poison Spider, Gonzo Inn, 98 Center, Bike Fiend and others.

Additionally, residents in a recent, nonscientific survey also showed favor for a bypass even as a vocal minority expressed strong opposition. A coalition of local and state agencies, which have been drafting a regional transportation plan, conducted the survey.

A total of 277 residents completed the online survey, which was posted on the transportation planning project website in late 2020. They answered questions about their level of support for three transportation projects in the valley: A bypass, frontage roads, and a regional bicycle network.

The bypass yielded the most polarized results of the three, with 27% saying they believed it was a “bad idea” and 66% saying it was either a “great idea” or that they were “OK with it.” Fewer than 1% said they had “no opinion” or were “neutral” on the matter; 6% said they “need more information.”

The results are not necessarily representative of the opinion of valley residents as a whole. Due to the small population of Grand County and northern San Juan County, scientific polls of the area are costly and difficult to conduct.

However, the survey offers perhaps the clearest insight on the opinion of Moabites regarding the bypass. Commissioner Evan Clapper, who cast the lone vote in favor of continued bypass discussion, said Tuesday that the vote constituted the commission ignoring the issue.

“It feels to me, because it has been such a large part of the conversation, that completely erasing it feels a little bit like sticking the head in the sand,” Clapper said.

He acknowledged that he had not yet seen a plan for a bypass that he would “sign off on,” but he endorsed the idea of “continuing to plan and continuing to get creative.”

Clapper had previously suggested that the commission take a position against particular alignments for a bypass proposed to date that has received loud opposition. Those proposed routes would take the bypass behind the Mountain View neighborhood on the east side of town.

The commission took a wholesale approach Tuesday, and in closing his comments, Clapper said of the issue that he was “not going to die on the sword over it.”