About a decade ago, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) rolled out three potential alignments for a new major freeway. Each put the new freeway near existing homes. Residents of Lehi, Utah wanted the freeway to cross a major bluff at the northern end of town — a financially impractical option that would have meant constructing a clone of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The department held a public involvement meeting, where I met up with these neighbors and heard out some of their concerns. I also got to chat with Teri Newell, the project manager for UDOT’s Mountain View Corridor project to see what the department was doing to minimize impact.