Salt Lake County leaders give thumbs down to gondola plan in Little Cottonwood Canyon

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 4, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake County leaders issued a resolution Tuesday giving a collective thumbs down to plans for a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The joint resolution from Mayor Jenny Wilson and the Salt Lake County Council asks the Utah Department of Transportation to eliminate the gondola as an option for improving transportation in the canyon and focus on more fiscally conservative and environmentally sound solutions.

“Instead of constructing 23 skyscraper-sized gondola towers that will devastate the majestic views of the canyon, UDOT should pursue common-sense solutions that invest in more practical, adaptable and less invasive transportation strategies,” Wilson said in a news release.

“These solutions on their own have the potential to solve the traffic problem without destroying our canyon. This common-sense approach will demonstrate that the costly and unsightly gondola is not right for our canyons,” she said.

On Aug. 31, UDOT announced the Gondola B option as the preferred alternative to improve transportation in Little Cottonwood Canyon. State transportation officials say the gondola, with phased implementation, “provides the highest travel reliability for the public.”

Plans call for UDOT to construct a base station with 2,500 parking spaces near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Each gondola cabin would hold up to 35 people, and travelers could expect a cabin to arrive every two minutes, according to UDOT.

UDOT officials say the gondola would operate independently from State Route 210, allowing travelers to avoid delays related to adverse weather, crashes, slide-offs and slow-moving traffic.

“This alternative has the highest visual impacts but low impacts to the watershed, wildlife movement, and climbing boulders,” according to UDOT.

It also has a price tag of $550 million, which includes the cost of tolling infrastructure, transit parking, adding snow sheds, addressing trailhead parking and widening Wasatch Boulevard.

UDOT estimates winter operations and maintenance would cost $4 million per year, and if summer service were implemented, the annual operations and maintenance would increase by another $3 million.

The 45-day public review and comment period on the Little Cottonwood Canyon Final Environmental Impact Statement and its preferred option runs through Oct. 17.

Wilson noted several other “common-sense” solutions to address traffic in the canyon, including:

• Electric, high-quality buses with mobility hubs.
• Tolling.
• Parking management strategies, such as ski parking reservations and enhanced smartphone app technology.
• Multi-passenger vehicle incentives such as micro-transit, carpooling and rideshare programs.
• Traction device requirements with expanded inspection hours and enforcement.

Salt Lake County Council Chairwoman Laurie Stringham said UDOT should consider “all facets of this issue: water protection, fire safety, two ways in and out of the canyon in case of fire or avalanche, and other options available that solve more than just a narrow scope.”

“It is easy for an entity with a narrow scope to come to a conclusion, but as public officials, we have a range of problems to solve, and we need to look at solutions that solve those problems, not just a narrow scope,” Stringham said.

Councilman Jim Bradley expressed concern about the cost to construct the gondola and called the project “risky.”

“Taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for a permanent and risky project like this, especially when we could invest in common-sense solutions like electric buses that can also be used to benefit transportation issues across the Salt Lake Valley,” Bradley said.

Other reasons the council and mayor oppose the gondola option, according to the resolution, include:

• It would make stops at only two private ski resorts.
• It would remove only 30% of vehicular traffic from SR-210.
• It would entail the construction of 23 high-rise gondola towers along SR-210.