Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

A proposed change to Lindon’s city street master plan may have affected the eventual construction of a major collector street on the city’s east side.

However, the Lindon City Council, during its meeting on Monday, voted against amending the plan, though it could be many years before the street is ever built.

Even as far back as the late 1960s, Lindon always had completing 1200 East north of Queensland Court — where it currently cuts off — and tying it over to 800 North as part of its general plan.

This proposed alignment would connect Pleasant Grove with Orem along the foothills of Lindon; those remaining portions would have to be constructed by the city of Lindon.

The city has re-adopted the plan several times over the decades, making minor adjustments to the future roadway.

Courtesy Lindon City

“The City is not actively building this segment of 1200 East but, over many years, has acquired some right-of-way for the future roadway,” City Administrator Adam Cowie stated in an email Thursday.

Lindon officials decided to explore the matter after a resident filed an application to have the future roadway removed from the city’s street master plan. The resident cited a variety of concerns ranging from traffic impacts to wildlife habitat disruptions.

While the yet-to-be completed roadway isn’t immediately on the city’s radar, Lindon said the eventual future use of 1200 East could include serving as a utility corridor and access point for public safety. It would also create a fire break in case of future wildfire events.

If and when the project ever comes to fruition, Noah Gordon, city engineer, said the financial impacts could be significant.

“Frankly, it’s going to be really expensive, which is part of the reason the city hasn’t probably tried to do it at this point,” he said before the council. “I did some really rough calculations, and it’s going to be somewhere in the realm of $15 million to $40 million.”

As the city was evaluating whether or not to omit the 1200 East planned section of road from its general plan, they sought out additional information to weigh the impacts of either scenario.

Information gathered through the Lindon 1200 East traffic study prepared by Hales Engineering indicated that if the 1200 East roadway were completed, it could have an average daily traffic total of somewhere between 5,000 to 7,000 vehicles by 2050.

If the roadway is never constructed, the traffic study estimated that by 2050, other Lindon neighborhood streets like 900 East, 400 North and 400 East could see a hefty uptick in traffic over time.

Some portions of east Lindon are already anticipated to experience an increase in traffic once the new temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens.

The matter has garnered heavy reaction from Lindon residents, some who recently became aware of the planned road and the request to amend the city’s general street plan.

The city held a public open house on the issue in January and received several hours of public comment at different meetings.

Residents on both sides of the issue packed the city council chambers Monday evening to express their concerns over the implications of someday constructing the road or if it’s never built.

After more than three hours filled with presentations, public comments and deliberation, the city council voted 3-2 in favor of keeping the future development of 1200 East on the city’s master street plan.

It could still be several years before the matter is revisited and the 1200 East roadway plan sees any sort of progression, but Lindon Mayor Carolyn Lundberg wants to keep the conversation about it going.

“I’m not satisfied that we just leave this and then call it good and wash our hands (of it). We’ve got to roll up our sleeves. We’ve got some work to do,” she said to the council.