Master Transportation Plan Amendment

The cost and devastation that will be caused by adding a freeway over the lake is irresponsible and goes against the Public doctrine to protecting the lake bed. This is ridiculous to even consider when there are plenty of land based options for your big freeway.

I'm opposed to the plan. An offshore freeway would prevent the ability to use that part of the lake for recreation, damage the ecology, and permanently harm future generations. The lake is important, for the sake of future generations I don't want to see it harmed. we must strive to preserve it. There are other routes that would cause much less harm to the environment, please consider other avenues.

Here's an idea, how about using some forethought before allowing developers to build wherever they please. Take a moment to remove those money blinders from your eyes and think about what is best for the community rather than how many tax payers we can cram in an area before thinking about resource and transportation requirements.

I am opposed to the plan of an offshore freeway and 1900 expansion. If we could get away with leaving Pioneer Crossing alone too I would say leave it be.
When you start developing more in areas away from freeway access that was when things needed looked at, not now when you are now going to have to impose on people, their homes, and the community they have grown to love.
When we moved into our home it wasn't in hopes to be near large roads with crazy speeds, it was to give our children a safe place to live, play, and explore. With 2 schools right in the areas you are looking to mess with I worry for the many children that walk and bike to school and their safety. With a rise in the number of children being hit by cars on the way to school I don't like the idea of them having to be around these roads in order to get to school. Also if many parents have the same concern they are going to begin driving the children which will then add to the congestion problem you are trying to fix.
Please first consider building a trax to connect to the frontrunner station(s) in American Fork and/or Lehi before these road expansions. I would be much happier paying higher taxes for that than this proposed plan.
Speaking of taxes what will be the implication of our property values if these roads are expanded or this off shore freeway if put on (specifically for those of us at this north shore area)?
If I knew this was an idea when I bought my house I would have chosen to go elsewhere and avoid here. I currently love my home, my neighborhood, and my area; however, this plan would make selling my home in the future harder and make my happiness dwindle. Don't you want your residents happy?
As someone who drives to and back to Saratoga Springs every morning and every afternoon I feel like finishing up the current projects would greatly help with the mess right now.
Again I am opposed to these plans.

Lehi City Planners,
I am opposed to the transportation plans to build a freeway on the shores of Utah Lake. The State has been successfully rehabilitating the North shore of the Lake. It’s is an important wetland marsh for a variety of wildlife. Please do not proceed with this location for.a highway. Utah Lake is under too much pressure as it is. Thank you.
Stephanie Higginbotham
30 year Utah County resident

Yes please! The lack of a freeway is making traffic unbearable. There is no sustainable way to continue growth without it. It would make SS and EM very attractive places to live. Right now traffic is horrendous along Pioneer Crossing and Main Street.

The freeway ideally would need to be further south (connect SS and EM to Orem). But if that can’t be done then let’s do it in Lehi as far south as possible.

Even if this is approved it will get much worse before it gets better. This really is already too late, but let’s not make it worse.

We either need to approve this or stop approving town homes and condos from being built. (Both in my opinion).

I’d prefer an investment in a Trax line that can connect Saratoga and Eagle Mountain to the Lehi and AF front runner line.

All options need to be on the table, and having an offshore option needs to be one of them. Adding this to the master plan, as stated, will have UDOT move forward with an environmental impact study that is an actual study and not opinions from commenters on this site claiming ecological damage without fact or expertise. As a resident between Pioneer and the lake, our voices should be heard over those unaffected by the expansion who want to come to environmental conclusions without the facts. 50-60 homes destroyed, and a freeway in place of Pioneer cannot be the only option considered. It would destroy the communities in south Lehi.

I am opposed to an off-shore freeway. Please put the money into a mass transit option. In fact, there is a frontrunner station conveniently located in Lehi that could make an ideal connection point to Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs. It's time we stop considering cars as the only method of transportation. The off-shore freeway option could also drag on endlessly with EPA permitting headaches and lawsuits/courts. Wouldn't this time, energy, and money be better spent on delivering a more viable option? Go ahead and increase capacity on Pioneer and 1900 South, but don't ruin our beautiful lake with a freeway.

As a long term resident that lives on the boarder between Lehi and American fork I have watched a huge amount of growth take place in the two cities
The one factor I have witnessed time and time again is the cities not sticking to their master plans and allowing developments on planned high traffic arterial roadways
Pioneer crossing cost twice as much because Lehi allowed development on its corridor.
The pony expressway is being built on right now.
Fund the roads we have planned before wasting more money on something the EPA and every environmental group is going to fight. This constant waste is catering to development and hurting residents. If the traffic and roads are going to be so bad then put a building moratorium in place until it’s figured out.
Or. A second true viable option.
We already have a terrible air quality problem in this valley and more roads that encourage urban sprawl are not going to fix it. Put the money into mass transit.

Have all other transportation options been exhausted before the consideration of such an alarming option? This will cause significant disruption to the ecology of the lake both in terms of construction, water flow, and car pollution over the lake. Why isn't the Planning Commission or City Council reviewing a plan to increase transit options on the west and south side of the City, or a plan to extend existing roads that could provide a similar traffic flow, such as Pony Express Parkway, before disrupting Utah Lake. This part of the lake also appears to also be outside City boundaries. Does the Utah Lake Authority support this? I also do not believe that Lehi's municipal neighbors (Saratoga Springs to the west and American Fork to the east) are supportive of such an idea, which is supposed to provide a regional solution to traffic flow issues. We need broader support for transit - not just bike instrastructure, but work with UTA and UDOT to increase bus service, or perhaps even work with your neighboring cities to propose a separate transit system if UTA will not serve our communities. Those options seem more feasible, community friendly, environmentally friendly solutions to traffic. Why are those kinds of solutions not being considered within the Transportation Master Plan?

With how many people use the main transportation corridors solely for commuting, the cities affected should strongly consider rail options. There’s not more efficient way to move people and would take up far less space. It’s safer for all users and would cost less to maintain and expand in the future.

To the Planning Commission, City Administrators and others —


While I am not a Lehi resident, I reside in the stepchild, “North Shore” area of Saratoga Springs that would be sandwiched between the proposed expansion of 1900 (which locals have accepted as inevitable for some time — though seven lanes would almost certainly necessitate property takes) and the proposed “off-shore freeway.”


I have to object to the notion that an offshore freeway is a viable component of the Master Transportation Plan on three grounds —


First, you’re going to encounter pushback en masse. Various organizations and residents were extraordinarily active in the recent, ignominious sinking of Lake Restoration Solutions. It seems likely that such an endeavor will stir the same organizations and individuals to action. There will be widespread opposition that will result in wasted time and resources that could be spent exploring and completing more viable, sustainable alternatives.


Second, there is ecological consideration. While I recognize the irony of my saying this given where I live, the area around the lake is already overdeveloped. The lake is recovering from many decades of human-caused issues, and a new freeway going over the lake will almost certainly exacerbate those issues. If there is anything I’ve taken to heart as I’ve learned more about where I live, it’s that the lake probably ought to be left alone and carefully tended. It has always been shallow, murky and central to the area’s ecology and beauty.


Third, this concept does not seem like something a single City can propose alone and see followthrough on. Saratoga Springs has designs for much of the 1900 stretch to become a “mixed use waterfront;” those plans conflict with the notion of a roadway on the North shore of the lake. State authorities and the State, which owns the lakebed under Trust (see the metaphorical iceberg in the aforementioned sinking of Lake Restoration Solutions) will have to be involved, as will the Army Corps of Engineers, EPA and others. The project would be huge, messy, expensive, and likely unachievable even if more widespread buy-in were secured.


If an over-water freeway doesn't get built, but is taken as central to the viability of the Master Transportation Plan, the City will have only succeeded in kicked a very big can down the road. It just does not seem wise to bank any of your Master Transportation Plan on a concept that will be nearly impossible to realize. I recognize the quagmire development to the West has put the City in, but think other routes — including an expansion of existing arteries including Pioneer Crossing and the introduction transit options targeted at peak travel times — seem far more feasible.


Thank you for your work and consideration.

I have ridden around this area on my bike and don't understand why you would build an off-shore freeway. This would be environmentally damaging to the area, and an eyesore. Please reconsider other mass transportation options first, for example there's only one bus line that services the area and runs add odd times. A bus line to the American Fork Frontrunner Station would be a major improvement along with expanding the already existing roads in the area.

Lehi City Planners,

Please remove the consideration of the amendment to the Master Transportation Plan. This will be detrimental to the lake's ecosystem and restoration goals. There's a city bike trail and residential neighborhoods that will be negatively affected by this. This goes right through the old Saratoga Springs Marina which I believe they plan to restore for the community. There are so many things wrong with this proposal that I doubt any meaningful thought or consideration went into this idea.

Dear Lehi City Planning Commission,
I am writing in opposition to constructing a bypass road along or over Utah Lake. Utah Lake is a natural lake held in trust for the public benefit. Building a road along the shore and/or over the lake is antithetical to that responsibility and should be a non-starter. A road along or over the lake will cause extensive negative externalities and essentially ruin one of the city's most valuable public assets. The shoreline should be used for trails, scenic views, habitat, and lake access. This will add significant value to our community, while fulfilling the mandate to hold these assets in the public trust. What is best for this community is literally the opposite of constructing a road. I urge the Planning Commission to recommend denial.

Dear Lehi City Planners,

Utah Lake is an ecologically important habitat for many species and building an off-shore freeway will damage those delicate ecosystems. It’s important to protect the biodiversity of our state and this area has been an active restoration site for ten years. Building this offshore freeway would undo all of that and waste taxpayer money. Please do not approve an offshore freeway at the North Shore of Utah Lake.

Dear Lehi City planners-

Please remove the idea of an off-shore freeway at the North Shore of Utah Lake from the master plan. That area has been an active restoration area for more than 10 years with FFSL overseeing the restoration. Utah Lake is a beautiful treasure and needs to be protected from anything that would harm it. The causeway on the Great Salt Lake caused irreparable damage and a causeway on the north shore would be devastating to the water hydrology and the wetland and upland restoration there. There does not need to be a road in the lake. Please look at other options. Thank you.

Lehi City -

Please do not approve an off shore freeway at the North Shore of Utah Lake. This area is an active restoration area that Forestry, Fire and State Lands has been managing for over a decade. A causeway this close would not only be devastating to the water hydrology but also the wetland and upland restoration here. We do not need a road in the lake. Please remove this from the master plan.

Teri Harman
Saratoga Springs
Conserve Utah Valley

Lehi City —
Please do not approve an off-shore freeway/causeway at the north shore of Utah Lake. This would be devastating to the ecology of the lake. As we saw at Great Salt Lake, causeways have unexpected hydrological consequences, often irreparable. Since Utah Lake is naturally shallow the hydrology is even more sensitive than most lakes. The State has spent decades and millions of dollars restoring Utah Lake — causeways would undermine all that work and be a huge step backwards. Again, please do not approve an off shore highway.

Teri Harman
Saratoga Springs
Conserve Utah Valley