Caleb Warnock

Battle lines are being drawn in Lehi over a proposed freeway connector.

UDOT officials confirmed to the Daily Herald on Tuesday that they will announce 2100 North in Lehi as the preferred freeway connector route today in a presentation to the Utah Transportation Commission.

In response, Lehi officials are drafting a mailer asking residents to protest the decision, but say they are afraid UDOT may not back down despite input from city officials or residents.

"We as a city need to show how passionate we are," said city administrator Jamie Davidson.

Hundreds of Lehi residents are expected to rally against the decision tonight when the grass-roots group Citizens Organized for Smarter Transportation is scheduled to hold a protest against the 2100 North segment of the Mountain View Corridor, a highway that will be built west of Interstate 15 to connect Interstate 80 and the Pleasant Grove interchange.

UDOT's announcement of the 2100 North decision on the day of the rally will only serve to galvanize the public, said David Klock, a COST co-founder.

"The battle lines have been drawn," he said. "People need to wake up and look at the impact of what is going on."

The city will go to court to stop UDOT from building the connector road through the city if necessary, said Mayor Howard Johnson, noting he believes UDOT had a responsibility to plan the freeway years in advance, giving homeowners knowledge of the massive road before homes were build in the area.

The city has asked UDOT to build a freeway connector at Point of the Mountain.

Nile Easton of UDOT said he was not aware that Lehi was drafting a brochure against the 2100 North route. UDOT has worked with Lehi for months and was aware the city was unhappy, he said, noting UDOT would "greatly prefer to work these things out before we have to fight it out in court."

2100 North has been chosen because study data shows it will force the removal of the fewest homes and businesses through eminent domain, cost the least, and have the smallest environmental impact, he said.

The route will not be final until it is approved by the Federal Highway Administration, which is expected to issue a decision in 2008.

Easton said he hopes to keep the lines of communication open with Lehi, saying UDOT's "door is open" but the preferred alternative would only change if "the data changes."

Lehi Councilman Mark Johnson said that information given to residents by the city about the freeway and connector roads in the past has been too tame, and has not inspired residents to speak out against the proposal. The brochure the city is preparing against UDOT's proposal must be more direct, he said.

Drafts of a brochure he showed his wife were so complex that his wife was not sure whether the city was for or against the freeway connection, or what part of UDOT's plan the city was concerned about, he said.

The brochure must make it clear "why we do not want a freeway connection at 2100 North," he said.

Residents must be able to pick up the brochure out of their mailbox and quickly understand what it is about, and what the city wants residents to do, said city administrator Jamie Davidson.

"I think we need to cater to those who are being introduced to this topic through the brochure, and then I think we need to follow up with them," he said.

Councilman James Dixon said the city could not rely upon state legislators to protect the city from UDOT. Residents must make their voices heard.

In March, 400 Lehi residents rallied at a COST event to protest the proposed Mountain View Corridor. The group now claims to have 2,000 members who believe Lehi should not have to bear the brunt of traffic from areas outside the city, and I-15 already divides the city in half, said Klock.

The group will demand that UDOT's proposal be scrapped in favor of a much smaller boulevard to avoid dividing the city again. The group has hired a national traffic consultant and will present an alternative to 2100 North to federal officials to review alongside UDOT's proposal, Klock said.

Caleb Warnock can be reached at 443-3263.

or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.

Citizens Organized for Smarter Transportation (COST) will hold a mass rally against the proposed 2100 North Mountain View Corridor freeway connector tonight at 7 p.m. at the Lehi Legacy Center, 123 N. Center Street in Lehi.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.