By Craig Blackwell
Tonight the Orem City Council is expected to call a final vote to rezone the land proposed for a student housing village near UVSC.
On Oct. 10, the developers presented before the City Council what they are hoping to build on the 45 acres near the intersection of University Parkway and Geneva Road. The plans are for the construction of 1,720 student housing units — 40 per acre – a grocery store, a telecommunications call center, a village commercial center, fitness center, recreation areas, parking structures and a building for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
At the Oct. 10 meeting, few residents of the area turned out to voice their opinions. LaDell Gillman favors the idea. However, he said he’s extremely concerned about the impact 6,000 students would have on traffic.
“Geneva road is not prepared for the traffic that is coming. There is a lack of traffic lights and the Geneva train is long and it has blocked traffic at the three busiest times of the day. We need to take care of the traffic before it gets bad,” Gillman said.
The developers said that they have performed a traffic study and that the information from their findings will be presented at tonight’s meeting.
One of the main issues that was discussed at the last City Council meeting was the idea of providing a shuttle or some sort of method to get the students to and from campus.
Gillman said a shuttle sounds like a good idea but if students are inconvenienced by having to wait for a shuttle, chances are they won’t wait.
According to a news release, city officials have met with Utah Valley State College leaders, the Utah Department of Transportation and the developer to discuss the possibility of constructing an overpass for pedestrians, bikes, the shuttle and other campus vehicles.
All of the groups mentioned expressed sincere interest in pursuing the idea to help limit the traffic concern, according to the release.
