A windfall of cash to expand and build roads is heading for Utah County.

In addition, another $60 million was added to $80 million already approved for the reconstruction of the Highland Highway, also known as State Road 92. Both projects will get underway this winter and are expected to be completed within two years.

"We are tickled pink," said Bryan Adams of the Utah Department of Transportation.

The Vineyard Connector, as the first project is being called, was one of only two or three projects statewide that received full funding this year, said Commissioner Kent Millington.

"The Vineyard project is one of a select few," he said. "It is really very competitive to get funding because the state has so many needs and we don't have nearly the money to meet all of the needs."

Specific routes for the Vineyard Connector will be shown to the public in meetings in June, Adams said.

By tying into the new Pioneer Crossing road at 10th South in Lehi, the Vineyard Connector will allow drivers to go all the way from Saratoga Springs to Orem and beyond without ever getting on Interstate 15, officials said.

The new design for the Highland Highway puts express lanes on one side of the road with frontage-type lanes for local traffic on the other side, allowing commuters to get from IM Flash Technologies directly onto the freeway without hitting traffic lights.

Adams said full funding for the Highland Highway would have been about $260 million, but the $140 million now allocated will allow at least part of the express lanes and new frontage road to begin construction.

"We are going to go back and meet with the local cities and look at traffic and then sit down and determine what that money will buy," Adams said.

Both projects were at the top of the money list because both will be needed when I-15 reconstruction begins in a few years, Millington said. That project will mean only two lanes in each direction on the freeway, and other local roads will be forced to bear the rest of the traffic. The Highland Highway redesign and the Vineyard Connector are both specifically designed to help traffic flow during freeway reconstruction.

The Vineyard Connector is also needed because that hamlet's population is expected to explode soon. The Highland Highway reconstruction will also support new commercial malls near Cabela's.

The Utah Transportation Commission is a body appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Working with UDOT, the group divides transportation money from the Legislature using a ranking system based on how many people are expected to use a road, the local population, the economic impact and other considerations.