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UDOT hosted what is probably the last public open house regarding the East-West Connector last week with construction tentatively set to begin fall 2008.¬
The four-lane arterial will run from Redwood Road in Saratoga Springs at approximately 600 North, to the American Fork Main Street I-15 interchange. The much needed roadway is planned to ease traffic congestion on the heavily used SR-73, also known as Lehi's Main Street.
Residents were shown maps of the mostly likely path of the road way.¬
"There is no existing road," said Scott Thompson, UDOT Region 3 public information manager. "The nice thing is that Lehi had some foresight in laying this out. They allowed for some open area and right of way to build a corridor like this. There is very little displacement of people having to be moved or relocated."
Thompson said that after a few last environmental study details, UDOT hoped to go out to bid on the project this summer.¬ ¬ ¬
"You probably won't see any construction until fall of 2008," said Thompson. "That will give us time, because when that road [E-W connector] is completed, then the I-15 rebuild is really going to get going in 2010."
Residents, for the most part, seemed pleased. Lehi resident Jennie Dudley said, "They have certainly done a wonderful job of presenting it.¬ It is good to have something like this that you can just go from person-to-person and find out different aspects of it."
The only real complaint seemed to be that the road is long overdue.¬
Springville resident and Saratoga Springs landowner Kerry Posey has had family in Saratoga Springs for 24 years. She said they haven't moved fast enough to get the traffic problem solved.
"I just about lost a son on S.R. 73 at the Jordan River," said Posey. "It was very, very close to being a death. One car got rear ended and knocked over into the oncoming lane. It happened just as he was coming by, so it was a head-on collision at 55 miles per hour. The roads are way too narrow, the speeds are way too fast and people don't want to slow down."
While UDOT officials didn't have an exact estimate of how many cars might be served by the East-West Connector, they did say it met with the Mountainland Association of Governments' transportation plans for the area.
"We could make a larger roadway, but then we would have to displace more homes and properties," said Thompson.
Thompson said that no homes would have to be relocated due to the roadway, although 30 properties would be affected.¬ Most, he said, would have strips taken from property for the right of way. Only 3.7 acres of wet lands will be affected. Estimates place the cost of construction around $100 million.
Thompson said that public comment would still be taken on the UDOT Web site (www.udot.utah.gov/ewconnector) or by calling 801-753-7344. |
