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EAGLE MOUNTAIN – The Utah Department of Transportation and Eagle Mountain City have two upcoming meetings planned to discuss possible improvements to state Route 73.
"In this area of the county, we are experiencing a tremendous amount of growth and we're actually growing faster than our ability to really keep up," said Geoff Dupaix, UDOT's region three senior communications manager.
In November, UDOT announced that in response to concerns from residents over safety that it was reducing the speed limit on S.R. 73 in the area of Six-Mile Cutoff Road from 65 mph to 55 mph.
"It's a small step in the right direction, in terms of safety," said Eagle Mountain resident Zac Huish of the speed limit reduction.
Even with the change in the speed limit near his home, Huish said more needs to be done to improve safety and traffic flow on S.R. 73, also called the Cory B. Wride Memorial Highway.
"We need the roads to be ahead of all the growth," he said.
Huish is advocating for quicker action to start converting the corridor into a freeway/frontage road system. Right now, there is just one way out of his neighborhood onto the highway and there isn't a traffic signal.
"There are some times when I'm trying to turn left out of my neighborhood where I might be sitting there for five or 10 minutes just waiting for a spot to get out," Huish said.
We are experiencing a tremendous amount of growth and we're actually growing faster than our ability to really keep up.
–Geoff Dupaix, UDOT
Dupaix said the overhaul of the roadway could still be a decade away, but that in the meantime, UDOT is open to making other improvements like adding traffic lights and medians.
"One of the challenges we're seeing is that we're growing so fast and there are long-term plans for this area; but at the same time, we're wanting to make sure that whatever interim solutions we can come up that they'll work for that long term," he said.
Before S.R. 73 can be expanded, Dupaix said other projects need to be completed first, like extending Mountain View Corridor into Utah County.
"Eagle Mountain City has an interest in fast-tracking the planned expansion of S.R. 73 through the area," Tyler Maffitt, the city's communications manager, said in a statement.
Maffitt went on to say that the city is regularly communicating with UDOT about funding for the project and residents' safety concerns.
"The city anticipates that accommodating the community's extraordinary growth in population and traffic through better infrastructure will lead to improved safety and convenience for motorists," the statement said.
Eagle Mountain City and UDOT have a regularly scheduled meeting about the roadway this Thursday and then a special meeting planned for next Tuesday. Dupaix said the Tuesday meeting was prompted after the speed limit change in the fall when UDOT evaluated S.R. 73 for possible improvements.
The meetings are not open to the public.
