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Homebuilder gets a $800,000 sound wall by going around the highway department and lobbying the Legislature for a direct appropriation

Tucked deep inside a final budget bill unveiled and passed the final night of this year’s legislative session is an $800,000 taxpayer gift to Bryson Garbett, a prominent homebuilder and former legislator, who had the help of House Speaker-turned-lobbyist Greg Curtis.

“The Legislature intends that the Department of Transportation use $800,000 from the Transportation Fund to construct a sound barrier along Mountain View Corridor at 8157 South Mapleleaf Way, West Jordan.”

Actually, the property borders Bangerter Highway, not the Mountain View Corridor, a little mistake that may have been the result of its hasty insertion into the bill.