Transportation: Utah's Indispensable Linchpin.

• Author: Cramer, Lew
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

A quick history lesson from 30 years ago:

In September 1987, Wasatch Front Regional Council released its "Salt Lake Area Long Range Transportation Plan." The introductory statement of the 1987 Plan read:

"The Salt Lake Area has been and Is projected to continue to be a rapidly growing urban area. From 1970 to 1985, population grew by 51 percent, and employment grew even faster by almost 64 percent. This rapid growth has led to traffic congestion on many of the area's major streets. In order to support the growth in the area and reduce congestion, the transportation system will need to be significantly upgraded over the next 20 years."

Just slightly over three decades later, this analysis may make each of us feel like Bill Murray waking up on Groundhog Day! These projections were amazingly accurate ... and nonetheless, this time loop is one in which most states would be envious to travel. Our growth is the necessary conductor between a healthy economy and a balanced social environment, but it has come with strings attached. And these important strings remind us that civic priorities, economic planning and multiple resources must effectively align to harness the incredible power of rapid commercial expansion.

As commercial real estate leaders in our local communities, we have the responsibility and capacity to build businesses and positively shape the economic landscape of the state. We probably all appreciate and subscribe to the accuracy of the common maxim: "Only two things in the commercial realm are inevitable: taxes and real estate." We have the privilege of daily changing, improving and shaping the very landscape of our state, and we need to insure that we are doing so in the most positive ways to enhance Utah's upward trajectory.

Another historical reminder from 30 years ago: The national perception of the state has come a long way since 1987. Just to name a few dramatic changes: the 2002 Olympics, rise of Silicon Slopes, nationally ranked colleges and a top-performing economy for the better part of the past decade have put Utah on national (and international) radar. All of these monumental accomplishments have indisputably shaped the state as we know it today.

Now the unmistakable challenge that can't be ignored: If we want to continue to experience financial prosperity and elevated quality of life through 2050 for us and our posterity, I reiterate the strong warning words of Wasatch Front Regional Council's 1987 Plan, "In order to...