Sometime this summer, state transportation officials plan to announce the route where they would like to build the $2 billion Mountain View Corridor in Utah County, and details released Friday by the Utah Department of Transportation point to a "preferred alignment" along 2100 North in Lehi.
It's a location with fewer environmental impacts than two other alternatives being studied by UDOT. One alternative is a southern extension of the freeway along Utah Lake, to Lindon. The other would follow the same route as the first to the lake, but would have three arterial roads to take traffic off the highway.
During a presentation Friday to the state Transportation Commission, Mountain View project manager Teri Newell outlined four criteria that UDOT officials will review as they decide where they'd like to build the highway. They will consider the impact on houses, wetlands and traffic, as well as the cost.
"This is the first time we've had all the facts out on the table," Newell said. "What this helps us do is move toward a preferred alternative."
If the road is built at 2100 North, fewer homes and wetlands would be destroyed, and the cost would be less than other routes. The road would also carry about as many cars as UDOT's other two alternatives, according to Newell.
Mountain View is proposed to run south from I-80 in Salt Lake County and then east through Saratoga Springs and Lehi. UDOT's plans originally included a connection to I-15 in Lehi on 1500 South or 1900 South with each of its alternatives.
After Lehi city officials and residents came out in force to protest the southern connection, UDOT simplified its plans to include a freeway option at 2100 North with no southern alignment.
Sierra Club Southwest Regional Representative Marc Heileson, who previously had criticized UDOT for the impact a southern alignment would have on wetlands, said he thinks that 2100 North would be a better alternative than a southern freeway.
"A massive freeway that bisects a community, with zero transit, is not compatible with what the people want to happen with growth," Heileson said.
Saratoga Springs recently passed a resolution in favor of the northern connection. The resolution says that the city will "vigorously and strenuously support and encourage the 2100 North alternative to be the preferred and final configuration for the Mountain View Corridor."
But not everyone in Utah County is ready to embrace the 2100 North route.
"The traffic needs to get further south before it dumps back on to I-15," said Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson. "Wherever (the Mountain View Corridor) joins with I-15, there is a potential for congestion, and ... the further south you can get it, the better it would be."
Ellertson said he will "have faith" in UDOT's studies, if it is suggested that 2100 North should be chosen as the preferred alternative, but he will continue to look for more southern solutions.
In total, about 29 homes, three businesses and three historic properties would be destroyed if Mountain View is built at 2100 North. The southern freeway alternative, which abuts the northern edge of Utah Lake, would impact 127 homes, nine businesses and three historic properties.
The arterials alternative would allow Mountain View to branch off into three smaller roads at 1900 South, 2100 North and Porter Rockwell Boulevard. It would impact 72 homes, two businesses and six historic properties.
Last December, UDOT announced that its preferred alternative for the portion of the road in Salt Lake County is at 5800 West. After UDOT announces its preference for Utah County, the agency will then work to release a draft environmental-impact statement.
In addition to environmental information, the study also will include data about the feasibility of charging tolls on Mountain View. UDOT plans to finish the study this winter, and will then seek approval to build Mountain View from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration.
Currently, UDOT does not have the funds to build Mountain View.
Newell said she encourages the public to still submit comments and concerns about Mountain View. "We're moving ahead, but we're also still in listening mode," she said.
For more information about Mountain View, go to: www.udot.utah.gov/mountainview.