October 16 – At tonight’s Salt Lake City Council meeting, a public hearing will be held on the 2018-2019 Fiscal Year Capital Improvement Program budget. The budget covers larger projects within Salt Lake City with a useful life of 5 or more years and a cost of $50,000 or more. Several bike related projects are being considered, including improvements to 1700 South between State Street and 300 West, Foothill Trails construction and signage, and other trail and roadway projects. The project list is here: CIP Funding Log for Fiscal Year 2018-19 (Final For Adoption) – October 16, 2018 (Document from SLC Council Download). Additional project information is below.
The 1700 South project would remove a parking lane between 300 West and State Street, and move the bike lane from the curb towards the center of the street. The tradeoff is that cyclists would no longer have a curbside bike lane, but would have less traffic to contend with, a buffered bike lane, and potentially lower speeds too. A design that could still be implemented would be a parking protected bike lane (curbside), but this was not in Salt Lake City’s initial plan.
Local bike activist Taylor Anderson has been circulating a letter of support for the project. The letter is below.
September 2018
Salt Lake City Council
Statement of support for 1700 South CIP approval
Bike infrastructure helps to protect people on bicycles from vehicles on the city’s roadways and an effective way to transport people efficiently throughout a city. The lane realignment on 1700 South is one way to make the city’s bicycle network more robust, encourage people to ride bicycles throughout town and support the growing list of local businesses in town.
A robust network of bikeways encourages people to commute outside of cars, which research shows promotes local businesses and has clear benefits on the valley’s air quality.
With this project, the city could add parking for people in cars who visit, live and support the area’s businesses. It would separate people on bikes from vehicle traffic, and it would promote a thriving commercial node in an underserved but growing part of Salt Lake City.
We are firmly in favor of the Capital Improvement Project on 1700 South between State Street and 300 West, and we encourage the city to follow best practices when considering both appropriate speeds for the road and the placement of lanes for people on bicycles throughout the CIP area. We encourage the City Council to approve this proposal.
Sincerely,
Coalition supporters as of 09/14/2018
James Alfandre (Founding Principal, Urban Alfandre)
Paul Svendsen (Owner, City Home Collective)
Hasen Cone (Owner, Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeade)
Mike Christensen (Master of City & Metropolitan Planning)
Taylor Anderson (Daily bike commuter on 1700 South)
Steve Shoell (Daily bike commuter on 1700 South, 20 years)
Sonja Berger (Avoids 1700 South out of fear of being hit)
Chris Davis (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South)
Jeffrey Rock (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South)
Nick Kenworthy (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South, 14 years)
Jessica Kenworthy (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South, 14 years)
Dave Iltis, Cycling Utah
Cyclists wishing to support the 1700 South project can use the letter as a template, according to Mr. Anderson, and email the Council at [email protected]
Other projects with a bicycling component include:
- Multi-use Loop Trail for Public Access at Rose Park Golf Course – $343,500
- Traffic Signal Upgrades – These would better detect bicycles and pedestrians. $1,200,000
- Street Improvements 2018/2019: Overlay. Bike facilities may be added in compliance with the Complete Streets Ordinance. – $700,000
- Central Foothills Trail System Construction & Wayfinding. This would provide a match for a Recreational Trails Program Grants and Utah Outdoor Recreation Grants in 2019-2020. The funding for this would mostly come from Impact Fees (from new developments in Salt Lake City). This would go towards new hiking and biking, with some mountain biking specific, trails and signage in the Foothills. $196,000.
- New Westside Trail Connections and Amenities – New trail improvments along the Jordan River between 800 S and 1300 S.
- Transportation Safety Improvements – analysis of crash data and appropriate treatments. $250,000
- Transportation Master Plan Update – This would affect all transportation in Salt Lake City including bicycling. (Note our previous editorial: https://www.cyclingwest.com/advocacy/editorial-salt-lake-city-needs-sustainable-progressive-safe-people-first-transportation-policy/ ) $117,000
- Complete Streets Enhancements – From the CIP Document: “This project proposes to complement roadway projects that have been funded or for which funds are being requested, but which do not include incorporation of the City’s Complete Streets Ordinance and/or recommendations of City master plans. It will include the design and construction of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit elements within the public way in conjunction with the design and reconstruction of funded roadway projects. Examples of these elements include striping changes, crossing signals and treatments, ADA-compliant bus stop pads, and pedestrian refuge medians. Costs can range from 0.5 to 20% of a corridor reconstruction project, depending upon the level of changes that are needed. When constructed in conjunction with a larger corridor project, rather than independently, substantial cost savings can be realized. One example of this is the 900 West corridor, where the City incorporated multimodal access with a relatively small increase in overall project cost.” – $125,000
The following have no allocation for funding:
- Cemetery Multi-use Roadway Repair (phase 1) – Bicyclists often use cemetary roads to travel through. Cost $2,400,000 – recommended allocation – $0.
- The following are not recommended by the Council or Mayor for Funding
- City-wide Wayfinding Study – $100,000
- Sunnyside 9 Line trail – Matheson Nature Preserve – This would be a path and crossing near Hogle Zoo as part of the 9-Line project. The council did allocate $265,000 for this.
- –
- Projects that could have a bike component, but isn’t mentioned:
- 1300 E. Reconstruction – It is not clear if Salt Lake City will be adding bike facilities in accordance with the Complete Streets Ordinance on 1300 E between 1300 S and 2100 S. This could be explicitly mentioned in the CIP request.
- 700 South Bridge near 4800 West – Bicycle infrastructure is not mentioned in this project.
Comments Needed:
To comment on any or all of these projects, attend the public hearing at the City Coucil on October 16, at 7 pm. or email [email protected]. Comments can be emailed anytime up to the scheduled vote on November 13, 2018.
1700 S Letter of Support Complete List of Supporters as of 10-16-18.
James Alfandre (Founding Principal, Urban Alfandre)
Paul Svendsen (Owner, City Home Collective)
Hasen Cone (Owner, Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeade)
Dave Iltis (Publisher/Editor, Cycling Utah)
Phil Sarnoff (Executive Director, Bike Utah)
Jesse Hulse (Principal, Atlas Architects Inc)
Liberty Wells Community Council
Poplar Grove Community Council
Bill Davis (Owner, GBR Service and GBR Utah on 1700 South)
Amy J. Hawkins (Nearby resident and frequent jogger on 1700 South)
Joshua Poppel (Executive Director, Village Bicycle Project)
Kylee Howell (Owner, Friar Tuck’s Barbershop)
Mike Christensen (Master of City & Metropolitan Planning)
Zachary Bartholomew (Board Member, Liberty Wells Community Council)
Dimitri Littig (Co-Owner, Vagabond Bicycle Bags)
Taylor Anderson (Daily bike commuter on 1700 South)
Steve Shoell (Daily bike commuter on 1700 South, 20 years)
Sonja Berger (Avoids 1700 South out of fear of being hit)
Chris Davis (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South)
Jeffrey Rock (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South)
Nick Kenworthy (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South, 14 years)
Jessica Kenworthy (Frequent bike commuter on 1700 South, 14 years)
William H. Nesse (Nearby resident)
Dennis Faris (Community organizer and transportation advocate)
Lynette Randall (Salt Lake City bike commuter)
Casey Kinnaman (Employee, Friar Tuck’s Barbershop)
Andrew Knuth (Salt Lake City resident)
Leslie Anderson (Salt Lake City resident)
David Osokow (Salt Lake City resident)
Erik A. Lopez (Daily bike commuter)
Sara Adelman (Driver, cyclist and pedestrian on 1700 S)
Taylor Lake (Property owner)
Justin McAllister (Salt Lake City resident)
