Activists Will Go Door to Door To Fight Mountain View Corridor

None by Eric Ray

Will Spread Message About Dangers of Air Pollution

(KCPW News) Residents living near Whittier and Hillside Elementary Schools in Salt Lake and West Valley Cities may be getting an unexpected knock on their doors tomorrow. Members of several activist groups opposed to the proposed Mountain View Corridor will go door-to-door telling families about the health dangers faced by children living near freeways.

Sierra Club spokesman Marc Heileson points to a study from the medical journal The Lancet as a foundation for tomorrow's march. The study followed 10 to 18 year-olds and found children living within 15-hundred meters of a freeway were exposed to heavy pollutants, and those within 500 meters suffered the most serious respiratory effects. Because of this, Heileson says the state should develop more mass transit options before building more roads. He says a better alternative is to build a Trax line along 5600 west, joining three already funded east-west Trax extensions.

Members of Utahns for Better Transportation, Utah Moms for Clean Air, and Physicians for a Healthy Environment will join the Sierra Club tomorrow. They'll meet at the Hunter Park pavilion at 10:30 am.

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