Pair of Tooele Co. projects bring inland port count to eight

TOOELE VALLEY & TWENTY WELLS 

Brice Wallace 

At the beginning of 2023, Utah had one inland port area. As the year comes to an end, the number has swollen to eight, including two in Tooele County as the latest additions.

The Utah Inland Port Authority board, at its December meeting, approved the Tooele Valley and Twenty Wells project areas as inland ports, although the size of each was changed since the areas were proposed for ports in October. The Twenty Wells area previously was known as the Grantsville project area because it lies entirely in that municipality.

Both are expected to become economic catalysts for Tooele County and help Utah with its logistics needs. Recruitment and incentive efforts in both areas will focus on light industrial, manufacturing, distribution and data center sectors.

“The reality is, if we work together, which I believe we can and we will, we can bring the best and brightest companies to Tooele,” Ben Hart, UIPA’s executive director, said at the meeting. “We can also do that in a way that will take traffic off of the roads and pollution out of the air. While we’re doing that, because we are statutorily required to, we’re also going to be creating money to help save the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake.

“All of those things can and will work together. Anybody who tells you something different is lying to you. I hate to say it that bluntly, but that’s the case. Our intent with the Inland Port and this project area is to not only be good neighbors, but also to ensure that the right economic growth is happening, that we’re good stewards of the environment, and also that we’ve got a good transportation system.”

The Tooele Valley project area covers 243 acres, adjusted from 162 acres when presented to the board in October. It is near Interstate 80, Interstate 15, the Union Pacific Intermodal Yard, Salt Lake International Airport and the Salt Lake International Center. It is connected to Burnester Road and I-80 via Higley Road.

The Twenty Wells area covers 498 acres, down from 1,835 as first presented. State Route 112 cuts through the project area. The southern shore of the Great Salt Lake is about 10 miles north of the project area.

In a protest prior to the board meeting and during public comment during the meeting, several people raised concerns about the port areas creating more truck traffic, air quality problems and potential harm to wetlands and the Great Salt Lake.

“The Port recognizes that its project areas that have adjacency to the Great Salt Lake need particular attention so as not to destroy any part of the Great Salt Lake’s ecosystem,” UIPA documents say. “The Port will not support any development or rail infrastructure that destroys wetlands on this or adjacent to this site.”

Grantsville City Manager Jesse Wilson and Jared Hamner, chair of the Tooele County Council, both told the port board that economic development at the project areas could lead to jobs for local residents, easing the need for them to commute outside the county for work.

“By being able to have jobs here, we can keep our people local, which is a great thing,” Wilson said, adding that the project areas will be able to attract businesses and thus help schools and local governments. The area has access to two interstate highways and the Salt Lake City International Airport, “so, with those things, we feel that the Twenty Wells project area would be a good area to add to the Inland Port,” he said.

Hamner said 75 percent of Tooele County working adults commute to outside the county for work. “What we’re looking for is to … keep our locals working here, where they can return to their families,” he said.

“We have attracted a lot of businesses here in Tooele City and along with Tooele County that these projects would enhance and be beneficial and accommodate one another,” he said.

Stephen Smith, UIPA’s associate vice president of regional project area development, said that, as is the case with all project areas, the Tooele County ones would assist “in advancement and efficiencies in the logistical needs of the region but also have statewide implications and benefits.”

“It is so incredibly close to I-80, [and] obviously the UP main line,” board member Abby Osborne said of the Twenty Wells area. “This is exactly, for logistical purposes, where we want port projects to be. So, kudos to the staff and to those in the community that recognized the nexus here and are moving forward with this.”

Hart reiterated that the port authority’s goal is to create a better multimodal transportation system.

“For those who don’t want to believe this — that’s fine; it’s your prerogative — we can’t continue to put everything on trucks in the state of Utah,” Hart said. “This trend is going the wrong direction. Utahns and our shippers depend more and more upon trucks. Guess what? Trucks don’t go everywhere in the state, so economically, you’re disadvantaged. They put a lot of crap into the air, quite frankly, so we’ve had a lot of pollution we’re dealing with. And economically, depending on the freeway system is never going to be our best strategy. We’re never going to be able to attract the best and the brightest.”

The Tooele County project areas join these other areas in Utah with inland ports:

• A port area in Salt Lake County, consisting of about 16,000 acres, including in the Northwest Quadrant of Salt Lake City and parts of West Valley City and Magna.
• The 899-acre Iron Springs Inland Port near Cedar City.
• The 2,200-acre Verk Industrial Park project area in Spanish Fork.
• The Golden Spike project area of 1,500 acres in Garland, Tremonton, Brigham City and other parts of Box Elder County.
• The Central Utah Agri-Park of roughly 35,000 acres in three parts of Juab County.
• The Mineral Mountains project area, consisting of four zones in Beaver County that occupy about 19,820 acres in parts of Beaver City, Beaver County and Milford City.

The port authority board soon will see some new members. Mike Schultz, speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, and Miles Hansen, former CEO of the World Trade Center Utah, have announced they will leave the board. Schultz’s departure was effective immediately. Hansen’s service will conclude Jan. 9. Hansen was the first chair of the board after its post-2022 reorganization.