Let's Talk: South Bench Drive Part 2; How did it get on our general plan?

This is part 2 of a 6 part series.  See part 1 here.

If you take a look at our 2014 general plan, you will notice there is a road going east of the posse grounds and then running mostly parallel to I-84 until it meets up with Old Fort Road.  It also had a proposed road to Layton, going nearly straight up the slope.  *On September 16th, 2014 discussion took place on the road to Layton which was similar to what South Bench Drive is today.  There was a concern amongst some in the council about how much added traffic would come to South Weber with this road, particularly for the portion that is south of South Weber Drive.  You can hear the audio of the discussion in this meeting here, starting about 2:14:00 to 2:33:00.   The following week, on September 23rd, a motion was made to make changes to the plan, including the removal of the proposed road to the south of South Weber Drive.  (The packet for said meeting is not available on the minutes, hence the unapproved minutes is all I could find, however the October 14th meeting shows the minutes were approved).

 **In the September 23rd audio file, you will hear an amendment take place to the motion above which adds the road to Layton back onto the general plan so long as it is under an 8% grade and is a local road.**  Our leaders feeling the need to address the influx of traffic coming to South Weber Drive as well as wanting to create more ingress/egress for the city.  Connecting to Old Fort Road would only create a residential road.  It also had feeder streets meeting onto South Weber Drive, but the state is limiting the number of roads that can connect onto South Weber Drive. They wanted to know if there were better options.   In fall of 2017, they commissioned our city engineer, Brandon Jones, to search out other options.  After a couple of requests for proposals, it was decided to have a company called Horrock's look into the concerns.   See the scope of work provided by Horrock's here.  

The first time South Bench Drive as we know it was introduced was in January of 2018 at the retreat that included staff, the planning commission and mayor and city council.  In part two of the audio minutes (part 1 was lost or damaged, but part two starts just as Brandon is about to begin) Brandon will present SBD.  Horrock's was instructed to find the least impactful way (including not needing to take property/homes) to bring another corridor to South Weber that would give the city more ingress/egress, another option for South Weber Drive traffic, as well as a connection to Layton.  Horrock's determined the route to Layton South Bench Drive proposed in 2019 was decisively better at an 8% grade rather than the much steeper option seen in the 2014 plan.  The plan of South Bench Drive also allowed for a thorough fare.  No driveways would butt up against South Bench Drive minus 4 new homes on what is currently the original SBD (behind the elementary).  This would also provide for a developer to build the road as he builds the subdivision adjacent to the South Bench Drive.   You can also listen to Horrock's progress report presentation given to the city council in February of 2017 here.

According to Brandon, because the study by Horrock's was approved, it moved the now proposed South Bench Drive to our general plan.     

Up Next: How far along is development? #swmorethan20

*This asterisked part of the portion of the blog was updated after further information was brought to my attention*