Orem needs to spend $16.1 million on a 20-year bond to upgrade its roads.
That's if drivers want to spend less time stacked up waiting to get into Orem and more time making headway across town, a citizens ad-hoc committee told the City Council Wednesday.As it is, said the committee, Orem roadways have more traffic than the freeway.
More than a few intersections either already qualify for an F in road service or are headed that direction.
Voters will get a chance to decide if they want to spend that much when and if they're asked to approve general obligation bonds to fund the "immediate" improvements needed.
"They have a choice," said Jack Young, a member of the committee. "They can pay for it now or pay for it later."
The committee was comprised of a half-dozen citizens - Bob Bezzant, Jim Evans, Paul Goodrich, Bart Mangum, Karen McCandless and Young - who also happen to have a great deal of expertise in planning and community design. They told the City Council they have a prioritized list of needs in Orem that will immediately benefit the entire city.
The committee was called into service a year ago to develop a plan for Orem.
Their list of projects includes:
- Improving 1300 South (a state road) between 800 East and State Street by adding a third travel lane, landscaping the corridor and improving the portion of 800 East between 1300 South and 800 South "in a parkway-like manner" at a cost of $4 million.
- Widening Sandhill Road from 1300 South to the south side of the Wal-Mart store from three to five lanes at a cost of $700,000.
- Taking 800 South over the hill - eliminating the current "dugway" configuration - to connect it to 800 South at the intersection of Carterville Road at a cost of $3.5 million.
- Putting signals on 400 West between 400 South and 800 North at a cost of $300,000.
- Improving 400 West from 400 North to 800 North by expanding the road from two to three lanes at a cost of $3.3 million.
- Upgrading 10 intersections not already on the city's capital improvements budget plan to include adding more left-turn lanes or allowing free-flowing right turns. Estimated cost is $4.35 million.
If the City Council decides to ask for the bonds and if citizens approve them, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay $3.71 more per month in taxes. A business would pay $6.76 more per month per $100,000 of evaluation.
Mayor Stella Welsh said she wants it made clear that "nothing has been decided" and Orem citizens would have ample opportunity to ask questions and express themselves on the matter. She predicted the "sell of the idea" to Orem voters will be a difficult process, especially because the city is already faced with a variety of needs at the same time.
A storm-drain utility is being proposed. And on the same council agenda, public safety officials told the council a new public-safety building is needed at a minimum cost of $4.5 million.
"The reality is it has to be done, but will the voters approve a $16 million bond?" asked Welsh. "I fear it hitting the papers. I know the phone calls it will bring."
Committee members said the cost is roughly the equivalent of one fewer movie with popcorn, a fast-food value meal or a business' sale of another pair of jeans.
Councilman Timothy Christensen said although he knows many are generally opposed to bonded indebtedness, it's important to take care of the need. He added that people he talks with all over Orem see traffic congestion as the most pressing problem in the city.
"By ignoring it, it'll just cost more," he said.