By Marin Decker
Gridlock. It''s an integral part of many trips from Provo to Salt Lake City. The number of cars on Utah Valley roads is growing quickly, but transportation options are not.
In Lehi, the Mountainland Association of Governments held the first of a series of public meetings to gather community input on how to address Utah County''s transportation needs.
'We''re here to talk about growth,' said Chad Eccles, transportation planner for Mountainland. 'In the next 30 years, we''ll be like Salt Lake County was in 1990.'
According to projections from the Utah Office of Transportation and Budget, by 2030, the population of Utah County will reach around 690,000. Salt Lake County handled its population''s transportation needs in 1990 with three freeways - I-15, I-80 and I-215. Utah County currently has just one.
And creating more transportation options will be no simple task.
Every three years, Mountainland puts together a long-range transportation plan for Utah County, gathering input from residents along the way. Mountainland will hold workshops in Orem, Wednesday, and in Provo, Sept. 30.
After creating a final plan, Mountainland looks to government agencies to locate funding. Often this comes largely from federal transportation funds, which match state dollars on a percentage basis. For the recent I-15 project, the ratio was around 20 percent state, 80 percent federal, Eccles said.
But in the present economy, that ratio is decreasing, making transportation funding increasingly difficult to come by.
'The legislature took money out of roads to pay for other programs, and we can''t build any more projects with that money until it''s paid off,' said Rep. Rebecca Lockhart, House Appropriations vice chair, regarding funding sources for Utah County road projects. 'The federal contribution is decreasing - they''re putting in less and less.'
Area residents are concerned about the long wait for new roads and transit.
'Lehi''s been gridlocked for the last five years, and it''s only going to get worse,' said Saratoga Springs resident Reid Wayman. 'We have some real problems, and we can''t wait forever.'
One concern of citizens at the Lehi meeting was State Road 73, which connects Eagle Mountain to I-15 through Lehi. Eagle Mountain has more than tripled in size over the last three years, and will continue to grow, reaching 22,000 by 2030, according to projections.
'SR-73 is among the top most-congested roads in the state,' said Shawn Eliot, transportation planner for Mountainland. The main issue hindering new road construction is funding, for a new road could cost as much as $62 million, Eliot said.
Growth in the area also creates more congestion on I-15, as there are currently no other major north-south roads.
Citizens at the meeting favored construction of a freeway along the west side of the valley, possibly connecting with a proposed west side freeway in the Salt Lake Valley.
'It''s our turn down here in Utah County,' said Fionnuala Kofed of Eagle Mountain Planning and Development. 'I go to Salt Lake County now because it''s easier. We need to be able to keep our money close to home, and go where we want to go without having to focus on traffic.'