The Utah Department of Transportation will hold an open house tonight, seeking feedback on where to place an east-west road that, by 2011, would connect Redwood Road (State Route 68) to Interstate 15 through American Fork, Lehi and Saratoga Springs.

Officials say that the 5- to 6-mile-long road would improve mobility through those communities and neighboring Eagle Mountain.

"I think the rate of growth in this area has caught a lot of people by surprise," said Geoff Dupaix, UDOT Region Three spokesman, who cited projections from the Mountainland Association of Governments that show northwest Utah County's population quadrupling to more than 200,000 between 2000 to 2030.

"This is one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation," he said. "It's growing faster than our ability to keep up."

Dupaix added that the proposed five-lane connector road, which already has $135 million in state funding earmarked, is "only one piece of a much-larger transportation puzzle." UDOT plans to build two more east-west corridors in the area before 2030.

"This one road is not going to be the silver bullet to resolve all the traffic congestion," Dupaix said. "Everyone recognizes more is needed."

Officials say UDOT is considering putting the proposed road, which would look like a scaled-down version of Orem's University Parkway, along 1000 South, where Lehi City has preserved land. UDOT could also include mass transit to carry passengers to a potential commuter-rail stop at American Fork's Main Street.

The 1000 South route is four miles north of 1900 South, where UDOT once considered connecting I-15 to Mountain View Corridor - before ditching the option due to environmental concerns.

But a regional representative with the Sierra Club, Marc Heileson, said 1000 South won't hurt much of the valuable wetlands. Instead, he called the boulevard "smarter growth" that could give transit options to residents in sprawling Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs.

"You can't build your way out of congestion with freeways. That's like trying to solve obesity by buying larger pants," Heileson said. "You're not doing anything to solve it, you're just making it worse."

Project Manager Bryan Adams said UDOT would do everything it could to make the road blend in. He added that people would be surprised at how minimal the impacts would be.

But Dave Klock, a developer and organizer with the Citizens Organization for Smarter Transportation (COST), said his organization will only support a connector along 1000 South if it goes to American Fork's Main Street. Otherwise, he said, it would detract from mass-transit options, cut through a portion of his Spring Creek Ranch development and potentially detract from businesses.

"It's an important arterial, and everybody recognizes that," Klock said. "The city needs an arterial east-west route."

sgehrke@sltrib.com

What's next

The Utah Department of Transportation will hold an open house tonight regarding the Interstate 15/Redwood Road connector route for northwest Utah County, 5-7:30, in Lehi at Snow Springs Elementary School, 850 S. 1700 West.