Heber City and Wasatch County have held a western bypass corridor since 2006 and 2007. Plenty of buyers treat it as the line to stay away from. It's the wrong line. The strip local governments preserved is about 84 feet wide, and the highway designs UDOT is studying need 250 feet. That's why the draft route leaves the preserved path in several places. The final route is still undecided: UDOT now expects to publish its Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision in Spring 2027.
So if you're buying near the west side of Heber this fall, you're pricing a road that has no final location, no construction money, and a few potential routes still being studied. The useful questions are where the draft line touches homes now, which way the refinements could move it, and how Utah's acquisition rules change the math for an owner who ends up in the path.
The 84-foot line and the 250-foot road
The local preservation corridor goes back to Heber City Resolution 2007-05 and Wasatch County Resolution 06-04. Both jurisdictions have bought some right-of-way under that effort. UDOT says both of its alternatives follow that corridor where they can, on stretches like 900 North and 1300 South. But the agency moved off it to avoid local wetlands, the new high school, and residential developments such as Kimball Villas. It also moved the alignment south of the "hub" intersection to spare existing businesses. The higher design speeds call for wide, gradual curves, and those don't follow a narrow corridor drawn almost twenty years ago.
UDOT also says corridor preservation doesn't decide the outcome of the environmental study. A parcel well clear of the old 84-foot strip can still sit close to a 250-foot draft design. A parcel next to the old strip may end up farther from the road the state actually picks.
Where the draft line touches homes today
UDOT published the Draft EIS on Jan. 7, 2026, and named Alternative B as its preferred route. It runs west of downtown, linking the US-40/River Road and SR-32 area to the US-189 hub. Its northern leg crosses the North Fields between Potter Lane and 900 North. Alternative A stays on US-40 for that stretch.
UDOT counts 8 relocations under Alternative B, 6 homes and 2 businesses. Alternative A would displace 27. Relocations are only part of the effect, though. Along 1300 South, the draft design puts elevated through lanes between ground-level frontage roads, and that changes how whole neighborhoods get in and out.
| Location in the January draft | What the draft design shows |
|---|---|
| 300 West, US-189, Daniels Road | Bridges keep cross-traffic moving under the elevated lanes |
| Industrial Parkway | No bridge; access limited to right turns |
| Southfield Road | Ends in a cul-de-sac near 1200 South |
| Country Meadows | Possible half-mile detour via 600 West, unless Southfield is realigned near the high school |
| 1250 South and Meadow Walk Drive | Noise barrier found potentially reasonable and feasible between about 300 West and 800 West, pending a later vote by affected residents |
Heber City leaders have asked UDOT for a Southfield Road connection, better access to the Walmart shopping center, and more direct access to Utah Valley University's Wasatch campus. So far those are requests. None of them is an adopted design commitment.
The refinements under study move the risk to other parcels
The January map drew months of pushback. Farmers drove tractors through the North Fields in March. That same month, Wasatch County Councilor Erik Rowland sent UDOT a letter asking that the route move east, as close to US-40 as possible. He cited the divided farmland, the conservation and open-space plans, and the Heber Valley aquifer. Signers included the Midway City Council, Mayor Heidi Franco, and Heber councilors Yvonne Barney, Aaron Cheatwood and Morgan Murdock. The draft estimated Alternative B would affect 54 acres of canals, ditches, perennial streams and wetlands, compared with 23 acres under Alternative A.
UDOT's project page, revised Sept. 16, 2026, lists the refinements now being studied:
- Moving the 600 West alignment east within the North Fields. That could reduce the hit to farming, but drivers would have to go farther out of their way, which could make the route less effective.
- Moving the elevated 1300 South road farther south, which could ease the effect on neighborhoods and rural character but might hurt traffic performance.
- Adding bicycle and pedestrian crossings at the SR-113 single-point urban interchange.
UDOT Project Manager Craig Hancock told the Heber City Council in August that the Utah Transportation Commission had approved $1 million to study these changes and do more traffic and wetlands analysis. Wetland experts are on the ground doing delineations. UDOT is also working with the North Fields Irrigation Company, which has managed water use in the area since 1860 and is now a formal consulting party on historic irrigation ditches. Any shift has to pass the same screening criteria used earlier in the study before it goes into the Final EIS.
What this means for a buyer: moving 1300 South farther south takes pressure off the homes along today's draft line, but it sends the road toward land that currently sits beyond it. Moving the North Fields segment east brings it closer to US-40 frontage. A parcel's exposure can change before spring without anything happening on that lot. The most recent council updates on UDOT's meeting list are from Aug. 4 for Heber City and Aug. 12 for Wasatch County.
Why waiting can be worth more to an owner than selling early
Then there's money. UDOT's FAQ says there's currently no funding for final design, right-of-way acquisition or construction. It describes six years as the minimum timeline under the funding schedule it lays out, which is not a start date. The January alignment was estimated at $760.5 million. UDOT has acknowledged the cost will likely rise, and the agency plans to look for funding sources only after the Record of Decision.
During that gap, the only way a government can buy land for the corridor is a voluntary corridor-preservation sale, and Utah law attaches a notice to those sales. An owner who sells voluntarily isn't eligible for relocation assistance under the Utah Relocation Assistance Act. If the land is greenbelt property, that owner also pays rollback taxes. If the owner doesn't sell, and a government later acquires the property through eminent domain or under the threat of it, the owner may qualify for relocation assistance and wouldn't owe the greenbelt rollback tax.
That flips the usual instinct to get out early. For an owner who may end up in the path, an early voluntary sale can cost the very protections a later, formal acquisition might include. Some money for advance purchases does exist. The state has the Marda Dillree Corridor Preservation Fund, and counties can charge a local vehicle-registration fee of up to $10 for advance right-of-way purchases, which UDOT holds but doesn't control. UDOT also posts a hardship acquisition questionnaire. Eligibility for any particular Heber parcel isn't spelled out in the public material.
Once a project is active, the process follows a set sequence: identifying the property, valuation, a just-compensation offer, and negotiation. Before any condemnation, the agency has to contact the owner and negotiate. Utah's Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman offers mediation, arbitration, and free legal help on these disputes. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. An owner facing a real offer should get a qualified attorney.
What Main Street gets, and what it doesn't yet
Downtown has the most to gain, but the draft numbers are modest. UDOT projects that by 2050, with no project, Main Street traffic would be 50% local, 25% regional and 25% through traffic. Under Alternative B, the through share drops to 14% and the local share rises to 53%. The bypass reduces through traffic. It doesn't remove it.
Heber City wants a pedestrian- and bike-friendly Main Street with wider sidewalks, bike lanes, and more room for business and placemaking. The EIS doesn't commit to any of that. It doesn't decide whether the city takes over Main Street or whether the bypass gets the US-40 designation. If the city did take over the road, it could consider slower speeds, more stops, and narrower lanes. Truck restrictions aren't guaranteed. For a buyer looking downtown, the upside is a long-term possibility that depends on decisions nobody has made yet.
Before you write an offer near 600 West, 1300 South or Southfield
- Pull up the parcel on UDOT's alternatives map on the Heber Valley Corridor project site and check both alternatives, not only the preferred one.
- Measure from the 250-foot design footprint, not from the old 84-foot preserved corridor.
- Look at whether the 1300 South shift south or the North Fields shift east would move the line toward the parcel or away from it.
- Ask the Heber City or Wasatch County planning department for a parcel-specific answer on permits or subdivision. We couldn't find any public source saying the preservation designation alone blocks either one.
- Find out how the property's street connects. A Southfield cul-de-sac or a right-turn-only Industrial Parkway changes daily trips more than a noise wall does.
- For greenbelt land, read the rollback and relocation notice before taking any voluntary corridor offer.
Utah's seller disclosure form couldn't be checked for road-project wording because the public copy sits behind a login. Don't count on the form to raise the bypass for you. Ask the seller directly.
FAQ
When will the final Heber bypass route be known? UDOT expects the Final EIS and Record of Decision in Spring 2027. Until then, the January alignment is a draft.
Did the North Fields conservation easement change the route? A proposed 165-acre county conservation easement overlapped the alternatives and contributed to delays, but the Natural Resources Conservation Service declined to fund it.
Is construction scheduled? No. UDOT says there is currently no funding for final design, right-of-way acquisition or construction, and it will look for funding sources after the Record of Decision.
If you own property on the west side of Heber City, or you're thinking about buying there before the 2027 decision, Parker Properties can check a specific parcel against both draft alternatives and the refinements under study, and walk through how access, timing, and the acquisition rules apply to it. Start Effortless Ownership by scheduling a consultation.
