Researchers, in Utah are finding the problem with looking ahead, is you might not like what you see. The results of a year-long study, released today (September 17, 1997), show where the state is going. News Specialist Robert Walz joins us, with some of the high-lights and, low-lights:

Hold onto your hat, things are going to change. Experts from 140 different government and private organizations plugged all the information into a computer last year--today they told us what the future could look like.

Most of the growth will occur on the Wasatch Front, from Brigham City to Nephi. There are currently one-point six million people living here. But in the year 2020 the population could nearly double to around two-point 7 million. And if current growth continues, 5 million people will live along the wasatch front by the year 2050.

If you think the traffic nightmare will end when the I-15 reconstruction is finished...guess again. Projections show the transportation problems will continue. Utah tax payers will have to invest nearly 10 billion additional dollars during the next 20 years.

And you will spend more time driving in the future. The average commute time now is 24-minutes. But getting to work will take 10 minutes longer.

The coalition's picture of the future is less than bright. If things continue the way they are we can expect Utah to be:
- More crowded
- Have less green space
- Continued traffic problems
- More pollution
- and higher taxes to pay for it all.

But unlike a crystal ball, Governor Leavitt says we can change the future.

((GOV. MIKE LEAVITT: "BUT IF WE DON'T RESPOND ALL OF THOSE BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN. WHAT IS GOOD IS THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR US TO NOT HAVE THOSE THINGS HAPPEN."))

The governor says the time to start is now. He says we need to raise a generation of planners who can find ways to enhance the good things and avoid the pit-falls that come with rapid growth.