Hundreds of Lehi residents rallied Wednesday night to protest the proposed Mountain View Corridor freeway.

Held at the Lehi Legacy Center, the rally was sponsored by the ad hoc group Citizens Organized for Smarter Transportation. Organizers and Lehi council members spoke out against the Utah Department of Transportation's proposal to build the Mountain View Corridor through Lehi and Saratoga Springs, saying they have a better plan.

The freeway, with six lanes, would connect Interstate 80 in Salt Lake County to Interstate 15 in Utah County.

City officials and the citizens group said they have asked UDOT to scrap plans to bring the Mountain View Corridor through any part of Lehi or Saratoga Springs, which would require taking some homes by eminent domain. Instead, the city recently asked UDOT to tie the freeway into I-15 near the county line, using a large bridge to cross the valley west of I-15. Everyone gathered was encouraged to fill out comment cards protesting UDOT proposals.

Lehi officials said Wednesday they would support roads the size of Orem's University Parkway in their city but no larger.

David Klock, who organized the event, encouraged those gathered to fight for safety; clean air instead of smog; bird song instead of freeway noise; and tree-lined boulevards instead of a freeway.

"It is not time to raise the white flag of surrender," he said. "We need to stay together as a community. It is we who determine what our community should look like."

UDOT must buy into the vision presented by residents, not the other way around, he said.

Judith Baker, a resident of Salem and a Lehi land owner, warned those gathered that the freeway would present health, safety and environmental impacts, and devalue homes by as much as 11 percent.

"It is easy for planners to put lines on a page and say 'Doesn't that look nice,' but underneath the lines are people's lives and livelihoods," she said. "Real people will be greatly affected. If we don't get involved we have only ourselves to blame."

Lehi Councilman Johnny Barnes said a freeway though Lehi "would not be acceptable. I would accept something similar to University Parkway in Orem or 800 North."

Councilman Mark Johnson said all of Lehi must unite against the plan, rather than leaving those whose property would be taken to fight against the proposal alone.

"Please lobby our state representatives and UDOT, but be kind because we need UDOT," he said. "It is they who direct funding for some of the roads we need."

Councilman Stephen Holbrook also asked residents to unite. He said they should not breathe a sigh of relief if they find the road proposed for someone else's neighborhood.

"Remember it could change to your area," he said.

Organizers said they did not invite UDOT to the Wednesday meeting, but organizers and city officials repeatedly encouraged those gathered to attend a UDOT-sponsored open house from 5-8 p.m. today at Sego Lily Elementary School, 550 E. 900 North in Lehi.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.