The Legislature should fund a preliminary study of a 7-mile-long bridge or causeway across Utah Lake as a step toward development of the west side.

Whether it should cost $5 million, as proposed by Reps. Steve Clark, R-Provo, and Kenneth Sumsion, R-American Fork, is another matter. The pair would like to allocate that amount in the coming state budget for a study. It seems like a lot to us.

While a causeway is perhaps inevitable as land on the west side of the lake develops, the question now is one of timing. Whatever merit may be found in the notion of "If you build it, they will come," a project of this magnitude, built too early -- too far ahead of demand -- could leave taxpayers with a very expensive albatross around their necks.

Such a bridge has been suggested many times in the past, but nothing has come of the idea. The need, however, is growing.

Utah County's population is expected to nearly double in the next two decades. Traffic is bogging down at some points already. The Mountainland Association of Governments and other agencies have been pleading for more roads, especially east-west arteries, to handle the traffic.

A lake bridge would feed future large communities on the west side. Right now, land over there is somewhat less desirable because of the long drive required to get around the lake. At times it can take a painfully long time to go from Provo to Eagle Mountain or even to Saratoga Springs. A causeway would greatly speed up that drive. And it would help boost development around the perimeter of Utah Lake.

The lake has tremendous potential -- though we hasten to add that a few people have gotten a bit carried away with comparisons to Lake Tahoe. Take a pill, folks. But the lake does have potential. Providing easy access to the west side would help attract homeowners and businesses.

Objections have included potential damage to the lake's ecosystem and the costs of the project. These problems are not insurmountable. For example, some point to the troubled histories of causeways over the Great Salt Lake. We should learn from those mistakes and when the time comes to build, we should do the job better.

The Utah Lake Commission has backed the effort to study a causeway concept, suggesting that the project is environmentally feasible. The commission has said such a span should be built on pilings to avoid altering the chemistry of the waters.

It is estimated that a lake causeway would cost a maximum of $500 million -- about the same as the 2100 North Freeway UDOT proposes to build across Lehi, and less money than other alternatives for that link. In other words, the price of a causeway over Utah Lake comes in at the going rate for any major road cutting across Utah County.

U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon has hinted that federal funding might help pay for the project. Discussions of the idea have also mentioned the possibility of making it a toll bridge. We have opposed tolls on other highway projects, but a case can be made for a specialty route such as this. Drivers would pay extra for the premium corridor, or go around the top of the lake for free. To keep traffic moving, E-Z Pass lanes would be needed to automatically charge tolls to specific vehicles.

A study would be worth some investment by the Legislature, adding momentum to other efforts to develop the environs of Utah Lake. With a causeway in the picture, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for economic growth.