When it comes to roads, Vineyard is not very well connected.
It is hard to go east or west because of the railroad tracks that divide our city from north to south.
But it is also hard to go from the south end of the city to the north end. It is impossible to drive from the Sleepy Ridge neighborhood in the south to the Eastlake Industrial Park in our north without leaving Vineyard altogether by using Geneva Road or driving the lake shore into Lindon and back down Pioneer Lane. We need better connections—roads that will get us from here to there without having to go the long way around. I believe this lack of a well-connected road system adds to the feelings of crowdedness that we associate with High Density.
I think the top five road projects that would give us the best return on connectedness are:
1. Center Street Railroad Overpass.
Construction has just started on the overpass. We need to finish it. It will connect the east end of Center Street with Mill Road. This will allow residents in the central part of Vineyard to access Orem Center Street and I-15 directly. It will also make it easier to get to the Megaplex and the other food, recreation and service businesses going into the greater Forge and Yard districts. It will take some of the traffic pressure off the Vineyard Connector and 400 South. No more going around.
If elected, I will vote to complete the Center Street Overpass.
2. North Main Street extension.
Right now, on the north, Main Street ends at the Vineyard Connector. Work is well underway to extend it into what will become the Town Center business district. There will be office buildings, parks and amenities. There will also be a new Vineyard train station for the Front Runner with a multi-modal hub where busses and Trax or UVX lines will stop. Passengers will be coming and going from all over the valley and beyond. The multi-modal train station will be key to attracting the kinds of successful businesses we need to come and bring their tax dollars to help make our little city sustainable.
But businesses are hesitant to build where there are no roads, even though there are plans to build them. Busses need roads—plans alone won’t get the busses to the station.
Completing the north Main Street extension, the new train station, and first increments of the business park are critical to Vineyard’s continued existence. ‘If we build it, they will come.’
If elected, I will vote to continue extending Main Street north, allowing access to the new train station and office buildings that are slated to go there.
3. 400 South extension.
Currently, 400 South dead ends just after it’s corner with Lake View Drive—at the edge of the Clegg Farm. The general plan calls for this road to extend down through the farm land to the lake shore area, connecting with Main Street, 30 West (in the Sleepy Ridge neighborhood) and 300 West (in the Shores neighborhood). Completing those connections will greatly improve the ability to get in, out and around in the south end of the city.
But the Clegg farm is privately owned. The city doesn’t have rights to move forward to make these connections. The city has been negotiating to gain access to the land, but so far, no agreement has been reached.
If elected, I will continue the work that has been started to negotiate with the land owners to come to a mutually beneficial solution that will allow 400 South to be completed.
4. Vineyard Connector (800 North).
The Vineyard Connector needs to be completed. It needs to be continued west-bound to wrap around to the North and connect with I-15 in Pleasant Grove. This has been the plan all along. This will allow residents on Vineyard’s north end to better access I-15. It will be vital to developing the Town Center business district which will sit between the railroad tracks and the lake shore, north of Vineyard Connector.
And while we are at it, the Vineyard Connector needs to be widened to two lanes in each direction from Geneva Road to Pleasant Grove. That has also been the plan from the beginning. We will need those lanes to handle the additional business and Front Runner train station traffic that is coming.
Unfortunately, this easier said than done.
The Vineyard Connector is a state highway. As such, Vineyard City has no control over it. That said, we can work with Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG) to lobby for and help them secure funding to get the connector project re-prioritized to the top of UDOT’s list of road projects.
If elected, I will work to expedite the completion of the Vineyard Connector.
5. Vineyard Road at 400 South.
The intersection at the corner of Vineyard Road and 400 South needs to be restructured. It is too close to the corner of 400 South and Geneva Rd. and Vineyard Elementary School. At rush hour the traffic backs up badly, creating dangerous conditions for anyone along that stretch of road. It needs to be studied to see what kind of restructuring or coordinated traffic signals might improve that situation.
Once again, this is easy to say, but hard to do.
The last leg of Vineyard Road and its corner with 400 South is owned by the City of Orem. Geneva Road and its intersection with 400 South are owned by the State of Utah (UDOT). Once again, we don’t own it. We have no control over it. Solutions here will be complex and will take time. We will be dependent upon the good graces of good neighbors, but we can still lobby and help them find solutions.
If elected, I will work to bring this issue to the attention of the agencies involved: UDOT, Orem City, and the Alpine School District and seek solutions that will serve all of us.
Honorable Mention: Main Street at Vineyard Road (400 North).
Main Street at Vineyard Road is one of our busiest intersections. At rush hour, when the school crossing guards are out, it can be downright dangerous. I hear harrowing stories from the crossing guards. Solutions are needed here.
If elected, I will study the issues, seek information and ideas from those having to negotiate that corner, and develop proposals we can all review together to improve safety at the intersection.
Of course there are other roads that need to be completed and traffic problems that need to be fixed. In mentioning these specific projects, I do not want to imply others are not important too. I will always be open to hearing about road and traffic issues and adding to the list of roads and intersections that need to be addressed. These are just the ones I believe have the potential to help us most as we move toward our goal of a more connected Vineyard.