Funding approved for Lehi traffic study to ease congestion

LEHI — Lehi City is getting funding to do a traffic study. The goal is to add a new freeway to help alleviate the increasing east-west traffic. 

Lehi Mayor Mark Johnson said east-west traffic has become increasingly difficult to manage as the city continues to grow.

“Everybody’s really upset at the traffic congestion,” Johnson said. “I get it. I have to experience it as well. And it is really, really difficult.”

Johnson said a new freeway is the best option to deal with the traffic surge.

Some Lehi roadways now carry tens of thousands more trips each day than they were designed for, prompting city leaders to pursue federal funding for a traffic study.

According to Johnson, rush hour in the mornings and evenings can get very crowded on Lehi’s roadways. For instance, Main Street carries about 24,000 trips a day when it’s only designed to carry 13,000 to 14,000 a day.

“There’s only so much we can do without building new roads,” Johnson said.

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees recently approved $2.5 million for a critical congestion mitigation study in Lehi to determine where new roads should be built.

The study will examine ways to reduce traffic and make future travel smoother. Johnson said the goal is to build a new freeway along with other roads.

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