Comments about ‘Environmental group leery of Utah Lake bridge plan’

Build the Bridge. Utah lake is a carp filled eyesore. Nothing pretty about the place at all. Years of dumping sludge by Geneva Steel, lousy fishing and little to recommend it for anything fun at all. Build the bridge, it will probably beautify it and any trash thrown from cars will mix in with the dumpy character of the lake anyhow.

Air quality would only improve. It is all the slow traffic in Lehi that pollutes the most. The bridge could work if they are required to help clean up the lake by removing the carp and weeds.

So, I ask, where are we supposed to put all the people? Environmental groups are like the Iranians, they say "Death to America". Well we know what the Iranians hate, but what are they actually building? Same thing, we know that the environmentalists don't want a bridge or don't want roads, or don't want urban sprawl, but what do we do with all the people? The bridge is a suggestion as to how to DO something. The Sierra group only want to make suggestions as to what NOT to do.

Good luck in building anything that is opposed by any group with "sierra" or "green" as part of their idenifying name. These folks are simply against anything, everywhere, and at anytime. Why? Just because they seem to have a media listening ear!

I don't know what design is planned for the bridge, with respect to letting water travel through it, but I'm not sure I see a downside environmentally. How would shorter trips to Provo or I-15 result in more air pollution? Do they think more people can move to the West side of the lake as a result of better transportation? This story could have used a few more details, I think.

"Another group member, Lakshmi Johal-Doinguez, who is a Realtor, said air quality is already the No. 2 drawback to people thinking about moving to Utah, and with a bridge going in, she believes the air quality will worsen and no one will want to move here in the future let alone the effects this may have on Utahns themselves. " I like this comment. Let's DO BUILD a beatiful bridge, and stopping other states people coming...Its a perfect secenario!

$600 million for a 6 mile long "bridge" across Utah Lake? That should be a red flag. How are they planning on recovering their investment? How many cars per day for how big a toll are they planning on? Just to cover the interest they will need to charge $5 per trip on 16,000 cars every day, seven days a week. But that doesn't pay off the investment and doesn't pay for maintenance. How many lanes is this bridge going to be? What facilities for emergency response to traffic accidents are included in the plans? I suspect the thing will get half built and they will run out of money, leaving the State of Utah with an eye-sore and a hazard.

Let's stop viewing Utah Lake as an obstruction to be bridged or a waste disposal pond and instead care for it as the asset that it is.

I can not believe that this is even in discussion. This is all due to the fact that people have poorly developed an area that has little resources and a horrible water supply. And now they want to destroy all sorts of natural habitats because the commute is to long. Did anyone think about that when they chose to move out there?

This will cost tax payers so much money and the upkeep will be horrible. This is a major mess.

Build it now.

Please don't destroy a very beautiful part of our beautiful state. Sure, Utah Lake has been neglected and is in desperate need of restorative help, but that's no reason to build what will, in the end, completely destroy the lake.

I grew up in Lehi and love everything about the lake. It's been very hard for me to see my small town (8k residents when I finished college) struggle to survive. We cannot allow Utah Lake to suffer the same fate, especially when we have the chance to prevent it. The residents west of the lake knew their troublesome commute before they even purchased housing, and if they didn't foresee traffic issues then they were too short-sighted. Also, with the soon to be completed Pioneer Crossing and the now under construction 2100 N Lehi roads the traffic concerns will lessen.

Please don't destroy our beautiful lake, let's work together to fix it.

BTW, I'm not a fan of the ultra-environmentalist groups and do not belong to any of them. I'm merely a concerned resident with a history here nearing 40 years. Please save our lake, not ruin it.

Whether the traffic is slow in Lehi or stopped on the bridge paying a toll the difference would be minimal.

Who is responsible for bridge maintenance or who is responsible for when the bridge breaks? Even the SF bay bridge broke and it is in a warm climate.

Is the company building and maintaining the bridge going to be held legally liable when it has to close due to snowy or icy conditions, or when a tragic accident happens?

What happens in another economic downturn and the numbers do not work out? Is the owner able to walk away?

Let's build a monorail!

The acronym for these groups is BANANA: Build Absolutly Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone

I'm not a radical environmentalist but I'd hate to see a bridge over the lake. It would be a huge eyesore.

The only reason it is even being discussed is due to the lousiest city planning I have ever seen.

Stop being ruled by the developers and the realtors in the legislature.

Use some common sense. Don't build houses before you build roads.

Building more and better roads does not increase pollution. This is an old myth endlessly repeated by the environmental left wing. What really increases air pollution is an inefficient road network that forces vehicle traffic to move at less than optimal speed.

The slower traffic is forced to move, the more pollutants are emitted. The worst-case scenario is the traffic jam, where vehicles are forced to idle for long periods. Want to reduce pollution? Build more roads. Build the bridge. Promote the free flow of traffic.

There nowhere near enough traffic to warrant this.

Enviromental issues aside:

Seattle has bridges like this one being proposed.
Seattle also 2 million people.

San Fransico has bridges like this one.
San Fransico has 3.4 million people.

Saratoga Springs has what?... 11,000 on a good day.


Old saying goes something like this;
You get what you pay for.

The residents out there knew what they were getting into.

Utah motto: If you don't like it, leave.

They are against anything and everything that accommodates people.

What a miserable existence. Fighting against what most people want all the time.

I get so tired of them and all their obstructions to anything.

If people understood how much money environmentalism cost each person every year for all the extra beauracracy, regulations, and rules they have foisted upon the general citizenry, most people would be appalled!!

Instead their militant behavior is constantly rewarded with concessions and attention by the LIBERAL media who obviously supports their cause even though most people do not agree with their harsh approach to everything.

As far as the bridge is concerned? Just make sure it is high enough off the water for my ski/wakeboard boat to drive underneath.

Of course realtors are for it. They are also for Legacy Highway because it makes them more money. The net effect on pollution will likely be neutral. The people who use it will emit less pollution, but more people will move to where the bridge is so more people will use it. If they are building on the lake bed, they need to charge them rent for using it. Utah should stop the freebies to every Tom Dick & Harry with a hairbrained business idea. Also make them put money in a trust fund to care for the bridge or tear it down after they inevitably go out of business after they have paid themselves gigantic salaries.

I have sen some very beautiful bridges, and their impact on the environment is minimal.

The question has been raised a couple of times about the "Greens" limiting buildings and homes, and where they want us to live. Their ideas are two-fold: A) Severely limit the population, and have themselves as the sole occupiers and police of the wilderness; B) Barring that, we don't build out, we build up, and live like the Japanese in little 100sqft apartments in high-rise towers.


The toll-collection back-up would be minimalized by electronic pay and fast drive-through lanes. And it's rather obvious that none of the naysayers have ever been through Lehi during rush hour, or you would be positivly screaming for this bridge.

The financing is a long term investment - kinda like your home. It will pay off in the long run, and upkepp with today's technology, is small. Stop with the whines, build the bridge, and let us enjoy a long sigh of relief as the air clears and we admire the beautiful architecture.

Utah Lake can be cleaned, and it would certainly cost less than 600 million dollars. Here we are living beside a natural treasure, and because it will take some work to fix the problems men have already made, everybody says, "Forget it, just build a big, ugly bridge across. Environmentalists are idiots."

Utah Lake is the way it is now because along the way people were NOT environmentally conscious.

I'm against the construction of the bridge because I want my grandchildren to have as many beautiful places to go as possible. A bridge will ruin the scenery, potentially threaten wildlife, and ultimately contribute nothing.