UDOT officials said on Wednesday that time may be running out for local cities to agree on where a proposed highway should be built in north Utah County.

Proposals to ease traffic were laid out for discussion in Eagle Mountain on Wednesday evening. Utah Department of Transportation staffers filled Eagle Mountain's council chambers with charts and maps to illustrate four major proposals that are now in the works. More than 50 people attended the meeting, many saying they would like to see the work done now.

"The county is growing faster than our ability to keep up," said Geoff Dupaix of UDOT, noting that is why so many projects are now being studied.

Change is sometimes slowed because cities disagree about what should be done, he said.

Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs have said they strongly favor the proposed Mountain View Corridor, while American Fork is opposed to some parts of the plans and Lehi wants it to end at the Point of the Mountain. The road is planned to connect Interstate 80 in Salt Lake County with Interstate 15 in Utah County.

Utah County's population is "going from a rural to an urban feel and we see that struggle, and unfortunately, that clashing between communities, because of how fast we are changing," Dupaix told those gathered. "We are going to double our population in the next 25 years. How are those people going to get aroundfi"

Utah County Commissioner Gary Anderson has recently said UDOT's patience for the discord is fading, and if cities don't begin to work together, UDOT may decide to end the road at the Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County.

"Sometimes there may not be full agreement," Dupaix said when asked about Anderson's comments. "Sometimes you have to go forward without full agreement."

UDOT is working "very closely with all the cities to make sure we are building the best transportation solution possible because what we build today needs to work for the future," he said. The agency is also prepared to work with environmental and citizen groups, which have raised opposition to the proposed highway.

"We are trying to work with those groups to make sure what happened in Salt Lake and Davis counties doesn't happen here," he said of the potential for the Mountain View Corridor to be delayed as the Legacy Highway was delayed.

Residents who attended Wednesday's meeting were given a presentation on all the road improvement studies now underway, including:

The Mountain View Corridor -- Three options for this proposed highway are now being studied, and a potential fourth option, requested by Lehi, is being reviewed, said Dupaix.

The first option would bring the proposed highway from Salt Lake County across north Utah County, connecting to I-15 along 2100 North in Lehi.

The second option would bring the highway across Lehi Main Street, curve it eastward along 1900 South in Saratoga Springs and Lehi, along the shore of Utah Lake, and connect to I-15 near the new Pleasant Grove-Lindon interchange.

The third option would end the highway at State Road 73 west of the crossroads in Saratoga Springs. Three east-west roads would then allow commuters to connect to I-15. Those include 1900 South in Lehi, which would become a seven-lane highway at Redwood Road connecting to I-15 at the Pleasant Grove interchange. Commuters would also be able to follow a seven-lane 2100 North in Lehi to I-15. There would also be a seven-lane road running east to west through Bluffdale connecting to I-15 north of the Point of the Mountain.

Public hearings on the options will begin this fall.

Unhappy with those options, Lehi has asked UDOT to add a fourth option, which would bring the highway through north Utah County, curving to connect with I-15 at the Point of the Mountain. The city specifically is unhappy with plans to link 2100 North to I-15, saying the plan would divide the city. UDOT has yet to determine if this option is feasible and is not presenting it to the public at this time.

1000 South in Lehi -- A proposal to link Redwood Road to I-15 at the American Fork Main Street interchange is now under environmental study. This road was once slated to be part of the proposed Mountain View Corridor system, but has been separated from that project in an attempt to speed its construction, said Dupaix.

"That would provide some much-needed relief to Lehi Main Street," Dupaix said. "In the best-case scenario, this is three to four years away from starting construction."

The study will take up to two years, and $92 million dollars has been set aside for the project, he said. Design and construction could begin after the environmental study if federal approval is given.

State Road 68 (Redwood Road) -- UDOT is now conducting an environmental study on a proposal to widen this road to five lanes from around Center Street in Saratoga Springs to Bangerter Highway in Bluffdale. The last public hearing on the project will be held on April 26 at Harvest Elementary School in Saratoga Springs, after which the project will be sent for federal approval.

About $40 million in federal money has been set aside for the project, which could begin construction as early as 2009. The new road would be two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane.

SR 73 -- UDOT is now conducting a study to determine "a long-term strategy for improvements" on this road, said Dupaix. The study includes the section of the road from Redwood Road to State Road 36 in Tooele County. Residents are encouraged to voice any concerns they may have, ranging from safety to design to the need for expansion. Improvements to the road cannot be considered for environmental study and funding until a study is completed to determine what improvements are needed.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.