If you think that the TARP Funds are not going to affect you, think again!

And while you’re at it start measuring the distance from your driveway to I-15 or State Street or Highway 89. So far Utah ranks second in the nation for earmarked TARP funds and you will see the symptoms of UDOT spending if you haven’t noticed already. Road projects are going to be erupting in Provo, Orem, American Fork, Highland, Lehi, Springville, Spanish Fork, Cedar Hills, Saratoga Springs, and many of the unincorporated areas of Utah County this year and next. So, “I don’t live next to a state road,” you say. So you won’t be affected any more than a little inconvenience in your usual driving or shopping routine. Well, your immunity from the effects of road projects is over now in case you hadn’t noticed before.

Federal money for road and infrastructure projects is funneled through the state and then to local communities. Those governments have the power exercise “eminent domain” in order to obtain property needed for projects that change the use of land for the benefit of the public. We are not questioning the public needs or the integrity of the various levels of government in this blog. Also the “taking” of property is not always the most troublesome aspect of road projects. The point is to know what questions to ask yourself about the real estate that you own or use (lease, share, etc.).

The TARP funds will be used for road and other projects, but we will only address roads because they are all above ground and visible. You can see the distance from your driveway to the nearest government controlled road (city street, county road, state highway, interstate freeway, etc.). The one nearest to your home may not be under construction, nor the one intersecting it, but is there a planned repair or upgrade to the road a half mile away or farther that will:

• Add one or more lanes?
• Add curb, gutter and/or sidewalk?
• Increase the traffic speed?
• Create a thoroughfare?
• Include a storm water detention basin?
• Remove part or all of the property next to yours?
• Encourage use by commercial vehicles
• Change a railroad crossing gate?
• Prompt a zone change or master plan amendment?
• Require a detour or closure for extended time?
• Expand or move utility easements?
• Change the size, depth or route of underground utility lines?
• Necessitate a semi four?
• Involve a median?
• Realign or close an intersection?
• Become a bridge?
• Vacate control from state to city?
• Result in a dead end near you?

The value of your real estate could go up or down over night as a result of any of the above factors or others. The use you enjoy now may be improved or terminated. Your retirement plans may be altered – dashed for loss of value or accelerated with a windfall settlement. Your lifestyle may take a drastic turn. It is not a question of who or what may do this to you, but how will you plan to react or take advantage of it.

In Orem, for example, the I-15 Core project includes a new Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) to replace the current arrangement of exits and entrances to the freeway. The engineering for this isn’t confined to the right of way boundaries to I-15. A few other related concerns will require the acquisition and demolition of several homes and commercial properties on the east side of I-15 at Center Street (Exit 271). For safety sake, the current intersection and light at 1200 West (the frontage road, in effect) on that east side of the freeway will be moved eastward – uphill and will be realigned at a higher elevation. That will get north bound on ramp traffic approaching the ramp at a greater speed and create the need for a more gradual slope and a longer acceleration lane to approach the on ramp which, in turn, will require a greater radius (not such a sharp turn) to get onto the ramp.

All of these changes trigger others. The change in grade and radius of the acceleration lane takes out the front part of a convenience store and gas station plus it leaves the remaining store (without the gas pumps) in a low spot below the shoulder of the road – not a preferable position for any retailer looking for exposure. Worst of all, the access to the store – if it can survive as some sort of a store – will be only from the rear or side, diminishing the convenience of the “convenience store”. As this major intersection on Center Street in Orem becomes busier, as this project is designed to facilitate, traffic on the uphill (east) side and in the north bound and south bound lanes will back up farther from the light as they wait for the green signal. That back up will extend away from the intersection so far that other private driveways will be blocked form any exit or entrance until a break in traffic occurs. This back up of vehicles will end up in front of residential owners, commercial owners, commercial renters, commercial customers, two large office buildings, a freight terminal and several professional offices. As if people could hope to make left turns across that kind of traffic build up, the engineers are contemplating the installation of a median strip to prevent any left turns even when the traffic does have a lull.

Now we ask ourselves, “what is the fair market value on the day before the announcement is made that this is going to happen?” “What is the fair market value on the day after?” Yes, there is obviously a difference, but there is no such “announcement” per se because these projects, whether in Orem, Salt Lake City, Heber or Timbuktu, are leaked, rumored, promoted, squelched and debated for months or years before anything is made official. How is the fair market value doing in the interim? Consider these questions with a professional real estate advisor, attorney, and or tax consultant. It is exciting to anticipate such changes if you understand the opportunities and not just the threats of change.

There will be new road projects in American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Highland, Alpine, Vineyard, Saratoga Springs, Lehi, Bluffdale, Provo, Springville, Spanish Fork and most other cities along the Wasatch Front. The “Front Runner” or commuter rail Project will have varied impacts on communities and individual residents and property owners all along its path from Brigham City to Payson. The effects will only be bad if you are not planning for it with understanding of how to take advantage of such progressing waves of development. There are also maneuvers that you can take to defend yourself against undesirable consequences of Utah’s far reaching transportation plans. I hope that I or some other professional can calmly help you plan for the ripples of the TARP Fund Tsunami. They will be closer than you think.