Road to Understanding: Lehi's growth causing traffic congestion, park shortage


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LEHI — Lehi's population is exploding.

For the past several years, more than 300 people have rolled into town monthly and made it their new home. That leads to up to 3,600 new residents every year, about a 4.5 percent growth rate for the city.

“The growth rate is just phenomenal right now,” said Bert Wilson, Lehi’s mayor. “The last seven years have been phenomenal for growth. I don’t know of a time when Lehi has had any more growth than what we’re seeing right now.”

And it’s not just people moving to Lehi. Tech companies and office buildings are also setting up shop. The city just had a ribbon cutting for property management software company Entrata, and has also attracted other big companies like Adobe, Cabela's and [Vivint Solar](< https://www.vivintsolar.com/state/utah>).

With that explosive growth also come growing pains. City officials need to manage traffic congestion and make sure there is enough affordable housing and water for all the new residents and businesses.

Traffic

Many Lehi residents voiced concerns about traffic on and around I-15 near Thanksgiving Point. Tiffanie Tippetts, who lives in Lehi, said she’ll often avoid that area altogether because of how bad the congestion gets during rush hour.

A billion-dollar bond, signed by Gov. Gary Herbert this past weekend, might help. It gives the Utah Department of Transportation the ability to expand roadways and ease congestion in areas on I-15 along the Wasatch Front, including in Lehi.

“In the next 35 years, we’re expected to nearly double our population so it’s important for us to plan ahead and make smart decisions to be able to address that growth,” said UDOT spokesman John Gleason.

Part of that planning ahead includes widening freeways to allow for more traffic. The freeway near Lehi will be widened from four lanes to six lanes in both directions, Gleason said.

City officials are also looking at what improvements can be made to various roads and intersections that would help with traffic flow, Wilson said.

A house being built in a new Lehi subdivision. (Photo: Devon Dewey, KSL.com)
A house being built in a new Lehi subdivision. (Photo: Devon Dewey, KSL.com)

Housing

Affordable housing can also be an issue for those living in Lehi. Kim Struthers, community development director for Lehi, said home values decreased during the economic recession that lasted between 2007 and 2012, but increased significantly as the economy recovered.

“In addition to economic recovery, rapid population growth in Lehi has caused property values to increase at a higher rate than normal,” Struthers wrote in an email to KSL.

Wilson said the city, with a population of 65,000 people, has room to grow and could be home to as many as 150,000 people as available land is developed. City officials are building affordable, high-density housing on some of that land to bring some balance to the high cost of homes within the city.

Struthers said these developments are just the beginning. City officials are also updating their Moderate Income Housing Element plan that is designed to make sure the availability of affordable housing keeps pace with the city's growth.

“In updating the plan, we are analyzing economic and housing data such as home prices, rental costs, interest rates, etc., to better determine our current supply as well as forecast future demands,” Struthers said. “In the plan, we have also set goals to meet those demands.”

The plan also includes using a mix of lot sizes and housing types in new developments, encouraging developers and builders to revamp homes that are currently uninhabitable and using state and federal funds or tax incentives to promote construction of more affordable housing.

Water

In response to water shortages that hit in 2013 and 2015, Lehi officials enforced water restrictions in the city that included a requirement for homeowners to only water their lawns every other day. The restriction wasn't needed in 2016 and will likley not be needed this coming summer, Wilson said.

“We had some shortages, we had some miscalculations here a few years ago when it really wasn’t as bad as we thought it was,” Wilson said. “But we started rationing water every other day for sprinkling water and that’s been a good thing. It saved thousands and thousands of gallons of water.

Wilson said some of the population growth actually makes it easier for the city to conserve water.

“It actually takes less water to water three or four houses than it does for an acre of alfalfa or grain,” he said.

With growth in mind, the city has recently completed a reservoir that would hold more water. They also have plans to make another reservoir operational this year, and include more in the years to come to accommodate future growth.

Related:

Parks

The last concern for Wilson is making sure there are enough parks for the city.

“We are running out of park space,” Wilson said. “With all the families that are coming in, we have several, several thousand kids that participate in soccer, in baseball, in softball, flag football, all the sports, and we are running out of field space.”

The city tried to raise more money for parks with a bond last year but was voted down. So now they need to look for other alternatives.

“The big ball fields and things like that are what we really, really need and that’s a struggle today, and what are we going to do about it? We don’t know right now," Wilson said. "It’s a tough issue."

Contributing: Ashley Moser

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