They're not calling it a victory, but Lehi officials are breathing a bit easier after the state agreed to scale back initial plans for a freeway that would divide their city.
    The Utah Department of Transportation will build a smaller road along 2100 North and phase in expansions as necessary. The initial road will be constructed along the outer edges of UDOT's 350- to 360-foot-wide right of way, leaving open the middle 200 feet between the eastbound and westbound lanes.
    UDOT could expand the road to a larger expressway, but first it would have to conduct another environmental-impact study.
    Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson stressed that he still wants the connector freeway at 4800 North, where it won't interfere with the city to the same degree and will better serve the more developed areas in north Lehi and Traverse Mountain.
    "But life has to go on," Johnson said, adding that if Lehi can persuade UDOT to shift its freeway project north, the 200-foot open space between the 2100 North road could be used for a park or another project.
    Johnson also wants to see a bridge built across Utah Lake to link Cedar Valley residents to Orem and Provo and a more direct route from Eagle Mountain to Salt Lake County.
    Those projects, the mayor said, would take commuters where they need to be and lighten the traffic load on Lehi's gridlocked Main Street.
   
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City Councilman James Dixon called UDOT's new plan "a significant compromise."
    "It's a good starting point that's obviously necessary to move traffic east to west," Dixon said. "It's not our favorite alternative, but I think we can start with this proposal and build it out to become a very usable, very manageable traffic situation as our city and surrounding communities continue to grow."
   
   
    UDOT's new plan for a road along 2100 North to connect the Mountain View Corridor with Interstate 15 calls for three phases:
    * Phase one: Local road with two lanes each way and traffic signals.
    * Phase two: An expanded expressway.
    * Phase three: A full freeway.