SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, July 12, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Transportation announced Wednesday it has selected Gondola Alternative B as its choice for Little Cottonwood Canyon, saying the phased implementation will begin this summer.
The gondola project is expected to cost $500 million to $550 million to build, and about $10 million for annual maintenance, according to the project website. UDOT also proposed building snowsheds for an additional $80 million.
Opposition or concern regarding the gondola project has been vocal, and come from leaders including Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, the Salt Lake City and County councils, Save Our Canyons group and outdoor-oriented companies including Patagonia, which urged its followers to sign a petition against the project.
Objections raised have included the possible negative impact on water in the Salt Lake Valley, and the high cost for a project that would benefit limited people, and the fact that traffic issues could be addressed in ways that were less costly and environmentally invasive than a gondola.
“Gondola Alternative B, with phased implementation, overall best meets the project purpose and need and the short and long term transportation needs for the canyon,” the UDOT statement says. “The gondola provides the highest travel reliability, as it can operate independently of S.R. 210, avoiding delays related to adverse weather, crashes, slide offs, and slow moving traffic.
“While the gondola does have high visual impacts, it has low impacts to the watershed, wildlife movement, and climbing boulders, along with low operations and maintenance costs. Full implementation of Gondola B depends on available funding.”
Josh Van Jura, UDOT Trails and Group director and Little Cottonwood EIS Project manager, said in a prepared statement that a gondola is the best option.
“This decision will help improve transportation in Little Cottonwood Canyon now and into the future,” his statement says. “It took more than five years of thorough research, analysis, engineering, public outreach, and the careful review of roughly 50,000 formal public comments, more than any previous environmental study in UDOT’s history, to come to this decision.”
The project website describes the implementation phases as follows:
PHASE 1: When implemented, Phase 1 will include improved and increased bus service scaled to meet demand (with no canyon roadway widening), constructing resort bus stops and a mobility hub at the Gravel Pit, tolling, and winter roadside parking restrictions. Increased bus service, tolling and resort stops will be assessed further for Big Cottonwood Canyon in Phase 1. Phase 1 is anticipated to be operational in the fall of 2025.
PHASE 2: Based on available funding, Phase 2 improvements will include widening and other improvements to Wasatch Boulevard, constructing snow sheds, and implementing trailhead parking improvements.
PHASE 3: Implementation of Gondola Alternative B in Phase 3 is dependent on available funding. During this phase, UDOT will construct a base station with 2,500 parking spaces near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon where all users would travel directly to the base station without needing to take a bus from a mobility hub. Each gondola cabin would hold up to 35 people, and travelers could expect a cabin to arrive every two minutes. Once the gondola is operational in Phase 3, bus service in Little Cottonwood Canyon would be discontinued.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this story as it develops.
