Speaking on a Stand for Orem podcast, Crystal Muellstein, a candidate for Orem City Council, said rising traffic is among residents’ top complaints and criticized past plans to widen roads through Orem to serve regional traffic rather than local needs.

“There were plans from UDOT to widen 1600 North ... Center Street to 7 lanes ... 1,200 to 5 lanes,” Muellstein said, and added that some proposals would make Orem “a thoroughfare to allow people to get through Orem to their own city.” She praised local leaders who have pushed back on widening projects that she said do not serve Orem residents.

Muellstein criticized the dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes on University Parkway as underused outside peak periods and said removing two vehicle lanes for BRT reduces capacity. “That bus is empty a lot of the time,” she said. She also warned that dedicated lanes can impede police and fire travel across University Parkway, creating potential risks for emergency response.

On larger transit projects, she said Orem lacks the population to support light rail and cautioned that state incentives tying transit to higher-density housing can force developments that do not match local priorities.

Muellstein said traffic relief should include pushing neighboring jurisdictions to fix bottlenecks and planning regionally, but she emphasized local residents’ needs first: “We have to make sure that our city works for the people who live here, first and foremost.”