In our view

The clock is running for solutions to Lehi's traffic woes -- just as it is for virtually every other community in Utah Valley.

Next week the Utah Department of Transportation will release its draft environmental-impact statement on the Mountain View Corridor. The draft covers 2,238 pages. We urge area officials and residents to take up speed-reading. Their input is essential.

UDOT officials stress that no final decision has been made on the route. They are seeking input and giving communities time to speak up.

Lehi officials have done so. Strongly. The draft will include three options for moving traffic from the corridor through that city. One puts the freeway through the southern part of the city; another envisions three arterial routes. City officials have howled over the third option, a six-lane 2100 North corridor linking Redwood Road at Saratoga Springs to Interstate 15.

Everyone involved agrees that more roads are needed to unclog traffic there. But Lehi officials lament that a 2100 North option will cut the town in half, as I-15 did; that it will uproot families and cut through potential commercial sites.

The city has suggested an alternative route along 4800 North, and it has spent a fair amount of money to prepare a report on it. Officials add that they support making 2100 North an arterial route as well, a sort of two-for-one deal.

It was put forward too late for the draft statement, UDOT says, but the alternative will get serious consideration. If it's found to have merit, the public will get a separate report. If it's rejected, the highway agency says it will make a public report stating why.

We don't pretend to be highway engineers. A look at a map seems to show that the 4800 North route is shorter. A look at the terrain shows it to be less occupied. On a tour of the area, Mayor Howard Johnson made a forceful presentation on the urgency of meeting future needs in that area, including the Frank Gehry and Brandt Andersen "Lehi Project."

But sometimes less occupied means less needed, other observers note. They might add that plans should meet current needs before tackling future ones.

The time to contemplate options is limited. UDOT and 15 cities have been hashing out various ideas and dueling plans for five years. Highway plans can't be changed as easily as dinner plans.

The U.S. Census Bureau has called the Provo-Orem metro area the sixth-fastest growing metro area in the nation. While Lehi and the state dicker over road placement, all manner of builders are making their own plans, and families are loading up moving vans to head to Utah County.

The reconstruction of I-15 looms in five years, a mere moment by construction standards. Valley residents will need every road option they can get.

As for the Mountain View Corridor, we express our confidence that state officials will seriously consider the 4800 North option. Creative highway ideas deserve every look.

If that option is turned down, we urge all involved to work together to get a final plan moving. That would set a good example for other tight spots in the county. Nearly every local municipality is in the same SUV.

Just look at the 2007 Regional Transportation Plan of the Mountainland Association of Governments. It lists 73 highway projects.

In the long run, more roads will be needed, one way or another -- especially for east-west traffic. MAG's executive director, Darrell Cook, recently noted that Salt Lake City has 14 multi-lane arterial roads. Utah County now has only two, but by 2030 it will have as many people as Salt Lake has now.

We urge residents of every town to take a far-sighted view. Growth means opportunities for everyone. Putting up with needed road work is the best way to ensure the area keeps the qualities that have made it a great place to live and work.

That means fighting the Not In My Backyard mindset. NIMBYism is self-destructive. Trying to preserve way of life exactly as it has always been is the surest way to ruin it. Growth is going to happen. The only question is whether we'll grow good or grow bad.

We also call on municipal officials and all residents to take part. Odds are that a road or street you use often will be revamped in the next decade. It's your responsibility to raise possibilities and objections early, before plans are set in concrete.

Do you agree?