Warning: Undefined array key "adf" in /home4/hpvcxhmy/public_html/wp-content/plugins/similarity/similarity.php on line 69
Warning: Undefined array key "sim_pages" in /home4/hpvcxhmy/public_html/wp-content/plugins/similarity/similarity.php on line 70
It’s frustrating to read articles such as the Daily Herald’s “Lehi residents talk about east-west freeway” because the title suggests that there might be a Lehi viewpoint to the article. It looks more like a UDOT viewpoint.
The results of their informal survey – asking whether people prefer the UDOT plan for a 2100 North freeway or the Lehi plan for a 4800 North freeway – are that six people chose the UDOT plan, one chose the Lehi plan, and one person said “whichever gets my mom home from Salt Lake the fastest.”
There are two things that really disturb me about this. First, of these 8 “Lehi residents” there are 4 residents of Eagle Mountain, 1 from American Fork, 1 from Alpine (really not connected to this issue), and only 2 from Lehi. Lehi did not even have the highest individual representation, let alone a simple majority. Second, the single question does not provide enough background to make any kind of informed choice between the options.
Of the two residents from Lehi, one chose the Lehi plan for 4800 north and one chose the UDOT plan for 2100 North. I accept that there are residents of Lehi that would choose 2100 North, but the reasoning behind that particular answer seems to confirm what I suspected – that the people being questioned were not generally informed on the issue. The reason given by that Lehi resident was that 2100 North would “harm less people putting it there because they wouldn’t have to remove as much.” That is true only when the 2100 North option is compared to the other UDOT options but not true when compared to the 4800 North freeway that UDOT has not yet considered. 4800 North would not remove any residents while 2100 North does. It is probably safe to say that respondents were also not aware that the UDOT plan is for 2100 North and nothing else while the Lehi plan is for 4800 North plus boulevards at 2100 North and 1000 South in addition to making Main Street wider west of the city where traffic is heaviest.
Next time I see an article about “Lehi residents” I hope they are actually residents of Lehi. I also hope that we can circulate more complete information on this important project.
5 replies on “Misleading Headline”
To whom it may concern.
If you look at the residents that drive main st in lehi.That is were there is a problem lehi residents can exit freeway.
Saratoga springs eagle mountian have to drive main or Redwood. That is a big problem and they are growing cities unlike Lehi.That is why 2100 north is the only option.
to say there is no problem for other city residents is very comical it takes some eagle mountian residents 2 hours to get from downtown slc to eagle mountian most of that time is on center st in lehi. you must have a property interest near 4800
I don’t think that anyone is claiming that there is no problem for residents of other cities.
By way of clarification, I wrote this two full years ago. Since that time I have moved out of Lehi (up to Davis County) and the option of 4800 North has been studied and rejected by the federal department of transportation. That leaves only one aspect of the post with any current validity – the fact that it was misleading to say that “Lehi residents” were talking about the freeway options when 75% of those talking in the article were not Lehi residents.
Do you know anything about the 4800 North option?
I’m not sure where you live – obviously Eagle Mountain or Saratoga Springs – but Lehi is also a fast growing city. Nobody in Lehi is claiming that there is no problem for residents of other cities, but 2100 North is not the only option.
I also think lehi has free way exits saratoga eagle mountian and ceder fort do not they have to drive through lehi. with a 2100 N. exit it would cut out alot of lehi traffic. I saw a survey that stated over 65% of residents that comute comute to salt lake county. that is heading north wich to me sounds like there should be a north exit or as close to the middle as possible. not south