The Utah Lake Commission on Thursday approved a resolution calling for a multi-million dollar study on east-west corridors in the county, including a causeway across Utah Lake.

Reps. Steve Clark, R-Provo, and Kenneth Sumsion, R-American Fork, are pushing the bill that would fund the studies.

"There's got to be some way of getting across that lake," Clark said Thursday at a meeting between legislators and Provo city council members.

A causeway has come up many, many times in the history of Utah Valley, but either because of cost or environmental impact, the idea gets shelved.

The possibility of a full-blown study has a better chance this year as lawmakers work to get the issue into the governor's proposed budget.

"The governor's high on Utah Lake. He wants this to become a jewel," said Clark, who said the chances of getting it in the governor's budget is 50/50.

Provo Councilwoman Cindy Richards said central Utah Valley is like an undeveloped Lake Tahoe, where she grew up, with skiing on one side and the lake on the other.

Clark agreed, saying "If this was in California, it would have been developed long ago."

The cost wouldn't necessarily rest on the shoulders of the taxpayer, he said.

"This is an ideal project for a toll road."