Mountain View Corridor plan pits homes, lake's wetlands

LEHI — A plan that would protect an additional 42 acres of Utah Lake wetlands could add 45 new names to the list of homeowners who could lose their property when the proposed Mountain View Corridor road is constructed.

Because two of Mountain View Corridor's proposed alternative routes run too close to some of Utah Lake's wetlands, Utah Department of Transportation officials are looking at shifting the roads further north, into a rapidly growing area of new developments.

"We're trying to find something that minimizes impact all around, and it's hard to say how that all equates out," said Teri Newell, UDOT project manager for the Mountain View Corridor. "Wetlands do fall under federal law; we do need to pay a lot of attention to that, and there's certainly a need to look at the least-damaging alignment." Previously, proposals to run Mountain View along 1500 South in Lehi or 1900 South in Lehi as one possible connection to I-15 have been considered. UDOT began conducting an environmental impact study on possible roads in 2003.

If the roads remain where they have previously been proposed, UDOT estimates a freeway along 1900 South would impact 84.4 acres of wetlands and necessitate 132 relocations of homes or businesses. A freeway along 1500 South would impact 99.8 acres of wetlands and necessitate 97 relocations.

A proposed shift presented to residents Wednesday night would reduce impact to the wetlands to 57.7 acres but increase the number of relocations that will be necessitated by the shift to about 177 homes or businesses.

"Relocations is not meant to be a sly word," Newell said. "It actually means we would take a home or a business and relocate the person that is in that home to a new location. We've got some pretty heavy issues to weigh here."

But for residents who took one look at the new route map at an open house Wednesday and started to panic, Newell said it's not set in stone where the road will actually go. Lines on the map merely represent roads that have potential to be built, Newell said.

UDOT is expected to complete the environmental impact study by 2007 and officially make a decision by 2008. Further information on the corridor can be found on UDOT's Web site, www.udot.utah.gov/mountainview.

A definite timeline for the project is being held hostage by a lack of money to pay for the road, Newell said. Funding for the project is still up in the air, as legislators consider how much money, if any, to allocate to the road. Tolling has also been discussed as a possible funding option to help pay for construction costs.