Pedestrian tunnels, large parks and a TRAX station are a few of the improvements Lehi recently mapped out as part of a plan to form a historic Lehi downtown conservation district.

At a recent meeting, City Council members unanimously adopted a downtown revitalization master plan. The city commissioned the plan from Landmark Design, which studied the options for downtown for more than a year. Three public hearings have been held on the plan.

The plan is the first step toward creating a Downtown Lehi Conservation District north of Main Street, where more than 400 homes are located and some 100 business buildings 50 years or older, many built in the 19th century. Passage of the plan also establishes a downtown residential business zone.

The plan calls for an "attractive" boulevard on State Street, pedestrian tunnels under Interstate 15 and State Street, a TRAX station and railroad line and a large park spilling over from Dry Creek Regional Park north of the freeway south to Lehi Elementary School.

The plan also calls for trees and other traffic calming devices along the boulevard on Center Street, joining the historic core with the Main Street district.

"Now we have a plan to follow which we haven't had before," said Councilman Mark Johnson. "We can focus on some of the quality issues."

Some in the audience of the City Council meeting expressed discontent with the plan.

"This is just a pipe dream as far as I'm concerned," resident Larry Webb said. "First things first, take the traffic off (Main Street) then make it look pretty."

The purpose of the almost year-long study was to take a critical look at downtown Lehi to establish a vision that would help preserve the downtown history and character of what was the heart the area, said Mark Vlasic, vice president of Landmark Design.

"We had to take a critical look at transportation issues and that is what drove the rest of the plan," he said.

The study area included the neighborhood east of 500 West to I-15, south to 200 South and north to the freeway.

"I really appreciate the work that has gone into this," said Mayor Howard Johnson of the plan. "It's kind of hard to get to the top of the mountain if you are not shooting for the stars."

Johnson said he would have liked to see the plan set aside space for a new city hall and "last but not least, given that the traffic is my phobia, I would like to see Main Street widened to a five-lane artery."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.