A automobile drives up Little Cottonwood Canyon on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. The Utah Division of Transportation introduced a delay Tuesday in its yearslong seek for a site visitors answer within the canyon. Kristin Murphy, Deseret Information
The Utah Division of Transportation introduced a delay Tuesday in its yearslong seek for a site visitors answer in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The division will now determine a “single most well-liked different” by this summer season, adopted by a 30-day public evaluate interval.
The 2 predominant proposals are an 8-mile gondola that may take riders to Snowbird and Alta or an enhanced bus system with a widened canyon street. Each would value over $500 million.
The division will then choose its remaining advice by winter. The UDOT web site says winter 2022, though challenge supervisor Josh Van Jura mentioned it might spill over into 2023.
“There’s an equal probability that it could possibly be earlier than (2023),” Van Jura mentioned.
Then it goes to the Utah Legislature, which is able to in the end have the ultimate say in whether or not to fund the advice. It’s possible lawmakers wouldn’t have voted on the advice till the 2023 legislative session anyway, which means the delay in UDOT’s choice doesn’t essentially translate to a delay within the challenge’s timeline.
Beforehand, the division mentioned it was “optimistic” about releasing a advice by April, though UDOT spokesperson John Gleason famous there was an opportunity it could possibly be pushed again to make sure “an intensive course of and we’re fastidiously analyzing each challenge,” he instructed KSL.com.
Now, Van Jura mentioned, a traditionally excessive quantity of public feedback acquired within the final yr will certainly lead to a delay.
“The explanation we’re extending the schedule is principally as a result of nice public participation we’ve had in serving to us guarantee that we've an correct and full doc,” mentioned Van Jura, who instructed the Deseret Information he’s learn over 14,000 public feedback to this point, essentially the most ever submitted for a UDOT challenge.
This story will likely be up to date.