With energy demands increasing in Utah, Springville residents will be watching the impact of the county's growth through the windshield of their cars on 400 South.

The Intermountain Power plant in Delta will be expanding in the next few years to accommodate the rapid growth of the county, which means there will be a higher demand for coal to produce the power, said Reed Searle, Intermountain Power Authority general manager.

And a higher demand for coal means more trains will be passing through Springville and stopping traffic at 1500 West and 400 South, creating a need for a bridge over the railroad tracks.

Trains already pass through the city four times a day, Springville Mayor Gene Mangum said, and with IPA's demand for more coal, there will be six to eight trains passing through the city daily.

But waiting for trains to pass by isn't just a nuisance to drivers, it's a safety issue.

As drivers exit Interstate 15 at 400 South heading to Springville and Mapleton and are stopped by a 90-car train crossing at 1500 West and 400 South, traffic gets backed up onto the freeway, Mangum said.

"So you can't get into town and you can't get out of town," he said. "It becomes a major traffic problem."

To mitigate future problems facing Springville residents, city officials are working with IPA on the feasibility of putting an overpass on 400 South.

In order to accommodate coal demands, not only will there be more trains traveling through Springville, but they will be 30 cars longer as well, Searle said.

For Bridget Baum, a two-year resident of Springville, this overpass is long overdue.

"I've seen it quite congested before," at the intersection, she said.

Baum used to work at Wal-Mart and had to the cross the tracks almost daily. Baum said she has waited at the railroad crossing for 20 minutes as the train was stopped on the tracks.

IPA now parks trains north of the intersection in a train yard, but if the train lengths are increasing from 90 to 120 cars, there won't be room in the yard to park without trains blocking 400 South, he said.

The overpass will allow the trains to pass through the intersection and park without impeding traffic. Discussions between Springville and IPA have just begun so it will be a while before any decision is reached on the project or how much it will cost.

"It's not like it's going to hurt us tomorrow, but it's already a problem for us today," Mangum said. "It's back to the drawing boards and concepts."

The Utah Department of Transportation will be meeting with IPA in mid-April to discuss the issues facing the company and Springville. Right now, there is no funding to improve State Road 77, also known as 400 South, said Geoff Dupaix, a UDOT spokesman. To acquire additional funding for the project, an environmental analysis needs to be conducted, he said. This process will measure the environmental and human impact the improvements to SR 77 would have, he said. Completing such an analysis could take anywhere from 18 months to three years.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.