400 N. to 400 W. road stays on Lindon transportation plan

LINDON — Just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, after several hours of public comment, the Lindon City Council decided to leave on its master plan the possibility of a road from 400 North across State Street to 400 West.

"It's a tough decision," said Lindon Mayor Jim Dain. "It was a tough decision for the council. I know that they were sensitive to the concerns of the citizens, but the decision was made to leave it on the master plan."

The council's early-morning decision followed an epic Planning Commission meeting several weeks before in which dozens of residents expressed concerns about the road.

Residents worried that if officials left the road on the transportation master plan — although there is no plan to build right now — it would create more safety hazards and encourage additional traffic from east Lindon and Pleasant Grove through their quiet neighborhood on the way to Interstate 15.

"You're saying the primary purpose for this (road) is to give access to State Street for west-side residents" said Lindon resident Chris Dexter. "We are those west-side residents that would be clamoring for that, but we're saying there is no need for this. This is a solution in search of a problem."

He sat down to applause and others approached the council to voice questions and concerns. Yet after hours of comments, pro and con, the City Council decided to leave it on the map to best meet the needs of a growing city.

"I don't think you can find a resident in Lindon that would raise their hand and say I want more traffic," Dain said. "But the bottom line is, more traffic is coming, (and it) has to go somewhere. Anytime you talk about traffic at an increase along a collector street, anybody that lives there is going to be disappointed."

Steve Smith acknowledged it is an emotional issue, but asked residents and the council to stick to the facts.

"I know that one city council cannot bind another city council, but if it was good at that time to take it off the master plan, the reasons really haven't changed to put it back on," he said. "What we're doing, if we put this in, is taking the safety issue off of State Street and transferring it back to 400 North. All we've done is put (the safety issue) in a different place."

The road concern started when several residents realized Lindon's transportation master plan had been changed numerous times in the past 40 years, and some year's plans included 400 North as a possible road while others didn't. The plan for 2006 did.