Opinions sought on Mountain View Corridor

Want to have a say about the proposed Mountain View Corridor?

For the next 58 days, the public can comment on a new study of the controversial highway, which is planned to stretch across western Salt Lake County into northern Utah County.

The study, called a draft environmental impact statement, was released Wednesday by the Utah Department of Transportation. The report examines the "purpose and need" for the road, its impact on homes and the environment and whether Mountain View would relieve traffic congestion.

The report — which weighs 18 pounds and is 2,200 pages long — took five years to complete and moves the road one step closer to actual construction. The public can comment on the study until Dec. 24, and UDOT will respond to all comments.

Groups concerned about Mountain View say they plan to carefully review the study for errors or oversights.

"We have a number of concerns," said Marc Heileson, regional representative of the Sierra Club. Those concerns include a perceived lack of transit being planned by the highway and the impact of pollution from the road on children in nearby homes and schools.

UDOT has studied whether a transit line should run along the road in Salt Lake County, but long-range plans only list the line as a possibility. The transit line would run down 5600 West in Salt Lake County.

Mountain View is planned to run down 5800 West (UDOT's preference) or 7200 West.

In Utah County, the department is considering three options for the road, including a route down 2100 North in Lehi. Residents are opposed to that route and have submitted an alternative plan to UDOT to study. The state Transportation Commission allocated money to UDOT on Wednesday to study that alternative.

Meanwhile, more than 60 people gathered Wednesday in the parking lot of the Lehi public library on 2100 North. David Klock, spokesman for Citizens Organized for Smarter Transportation, said UDOT is failing in its legal responsibilities to explore all reasonable alternatives to the proposed route through Lehi. Klock said his group's proposed alternative route, located along 4800 North, would handle more traffic, require fewer relocations, impact less wetlands and cost less than the plan outlined in the draft environmental impact statement.

Mayor Howard Johnson gestured behind the crowd to an orange cone in the middle of the parking lot and said 29 buildings along that line, including the library and a nearby church, would have to be cleared to make way for the proposed route on 2100 North. He said the plan is rushed.

"We're here to say, 'There's a better alternative, and it's at 4800 North,'" he said.