Planning underway for potential traffic troubles in northern Utah County

Planning underway for potential traffic troubles in northern Utah County

(Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News/File)


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OREM — Northern Utah County is among the fastest growing areas in the Intermountain West, and that growth is spawning some significant traffic and transportation issues.

A report from a local planning organization indicates it will take a multi-pronged approach to handle the transit problems facing the region before it's too late.

Recently, the Mountainland Association of Governments released its TransPlan40 regional transportation plan detailing proposals to develop various forms of highway, rail, bus, bicycle and pedestrian transit access throughout Utah County by 2040.

While many of the proposals are in the construction phase, others are still in the development stage, and a few more are still in the ongoing idea or “vision” phase, said Shawn Seager, Mountainland's director of metropolitan planning.

The association is an area agency designated to provide services to the cities and communities of Summit, Utah and Wasatch counties. The report detailed drafts for regional transportation projects that included 74 new planned highways, 12 new commuter-rail and light-rail lines, as well as some 50 pedestrian and bicycle routes at a cost of billions of dollars over the next 25 years, Seager explained.

The 'epicenter of growth'

Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs and Lehi near Point of the Mountain, as well as Bluffdale, Draper and Herriman, are experiencing tremendous population hikes, he said. The area has been referred to as the “epicenter of growth” for northern Utah County, Seager added.

“Right now there are 100,000 people living west of I-15,” he said. “In the year 2040, we’ll have 300,000 people living west of I-15 in north Utah County. The area is basically in-filling.”


Right now there are 100,000 people living west of I-15. In the year 2040, we'll have 300,000 people living west of I-15 in north Utah County. The area is basically in-filling.

–Shawn Seager, Mountainland Assoc. of Governments


Eagle Mountain Mayor Chris Pengra said his community has grown exponentially since it was incorporated in 1996, and enhancing transportation will have a profound impact on future growth.

“Transportation is extremely important to us. It’s how our residents get to and from work because most live outside of (the) city,” he said. “The plan takes a good, balanced approach to making sure that infrastructure grows with the city.”

Pengra said improving and expanding transportation would aid in economic development as well, allowing business in the area to grow over time.

He also noted that planning for growth today would prevent possible challenges in the future.

“The best time to plan something is before you need it,” Pengra explained. “Once it's on the horizon and the pressure is on to fix the problem, you really limited yourself as to what solutions you can take.”

Expanding public transportation

Seager said plans include building a $150 million enhanced bus rapid transit line — or light rail “on rubber tires” — from Provo to Orem, with development scheduled to begin in 2016. Other plans would extend TRAX from Draper through “Silicon Slopes” into Lehi — and one day eventually all the way into Orem, he said.

(Photo: kiman)
(Photo: kiman)

“We anticipate that we will build light rail around the Point of the Mountain, and we could have commuter rail that serves to Provo all the way down to Payson,” Seager said.

Most of those plans are in the funding phases and are expected to be completed by 2034, while other long-term “visions” are still as yet unfunded and may take even more time to develop — if at all, he said.

A bridge over Utah Lake?

Such is the case with the proposed highway bridge that would travel across Utah Lake connecting the east and west sides of the lake. The notion has been contemplated for decades, Seager noted, but has never really gained any real traction.

At this point, with an estimated cost of about $300 million, there are still no concrete plans to get such a project funded or developed, he said matter-of-factly.

“We don’t have enough money, and we don’t have enough demand for it yet,” Seager said. “The (vision projects) need to be further developed into the future. At this point in time, we do not show a need for them.”

Advance planning

In the meantime, developing bus and train lines, along with bicycle and pedestrian routes, are much higher priority, he said, and will provide improved movement and less traffic congestion as the region continues to grow over the next 25 years.

Seager said it takes about 15 years to develop and fund the average transportation project, and if plans are not made far enough in advance, then the results could be troublesome.

“We are trying to coordinate all these investments so that people have choices and different ways to get around based on their needs,” he explained. “The goal is to create an integrated transportation system to serve people at different points in their lives all the way to the year 2040.”

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