Utah's Department of Transportation formally declared 2100 North in Lehi its preferred route for the Mountain View Corridor in Utah County at a Utah Transportation Commission meeting.

At the meeting Wednesday in Brigham City, transportation commissioners unanimously voiced their support for UDOT's choice, saying that the connection appeared to be the best option.

"If you look at the Clean Water Act and you look at (National Environmental Policy Act) regulations, we may not have any choice," said Stuart Adams, newly elected chairman of the Transportation Commission. "We need to be realistic in what we do."

Some residents of Lehi, including elected city leaders, say a highway at 2100 North is anything but the best option. Instead, city officials prefer an option that includes arterials and a freeway connection at 4800 North, near Point of the Mountain.

"I just think the Transportation Commission spoke too early and made a mistake," said Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson. "As a city we're not going to stand for that. We're going to do what we can do avoid our city being cut up and our business district being destroyed by a highway."

UDOT has three options for the Mountain View Corridor in Utah County. In one option, the road connects I-80 near the Salt Lake City International Airport to I-15 in Utah County via 1900 South in Lehi. The second option has three seven-lane arterial roads that connect the Mountain View Corridor to Lehi via 2100 North, 1900 South and Porter Rockwell Boulevard at the Point of the Mountain.

The third option, on which UDOT will now concentrate efforts, connects the Mountain View Corridor to Utah County with a six-lane freeway on 2100 North in Lehi.

Of the three options, UDOT Mountain View Corridor project coordinator Teri Newell says 2100 North is the best choice because it is the least expensive, equally as effective at moving cars as the other roads and has the least amount of environmental impact on the area's houses and wetlands.

"What we're trying to do is follow the data for it," Newell said. "The data point to this alternative."

Comparatively, the 2100 North option affects 29 homes, three businesses and three historical landmarks. In addition, the road would impact 14.7 acres of wetlands in the area.

Building the arterials option or a freeway at 1900 South would affect between 72 and 127 homes, Newell said. At least 50 acres of wetlands would be impacted by these options.

"I think (UDOT) has done a superb job at looking carefully at all of the impacts, taking into account the various impacts on the various cities and the counties and the people and the environment," transportation commissioner Kent Millington said. "I commend this study, and I think they've done a very excellent job and I appreciate the work that's been done."