Salt Lake City expects a big road construction change as it nears UDOT requirement
by Carter Williams ksl · KSL.comEstimated read time: 4-5 minutes
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Salt Lake City completed the 600 North/700 South project, the last of several major roadwork projects.
- Future projects will focus on smaller roads due to construction fatigue and SB242 compliance.
- SB242 requires mitigation of bike lane impacts; transportation planners are seeking to repeal 'complete streets ordinance.'
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's capital city recently wrapped up its 600 North/700 South project near Rose Park, and it could be the last project of its kind for a while.
Its completion follows projects all across the city since 2020, from a revamp of 200 South downtown to an overhaul of streets and infastructure underneath the heart of Sugar House to many other neighborhoods. Most were funded by a 2018 Salt Lake City bond that has since been spent.
"We did a lot in a very short amount of time, and everyone felt it," said Lynn Jacobs, Salt Lake City's transportation director. "We had a lot of construction going on, and there was definitely a lot of construction fatigue that both we and (the Utah Department of Transportation) heard."
Instead, Salt Lake City could focus more on smaller road projects in the near future, where Jacobs said the greatest attention is needed right now.
That doesn't include private or state-led projects, including sections of 300 West and 200 West for the "sports, entertainment, culture and convention district" downtown.
Fatigue is one factor, but it also comes as the city nears an agreement with UDOT on the management of certain roads, which is required by the start of 2027 under a bill passed by the Utah Legislature earlier this year.
This year's SB242 also required Salt Lake City to mitigate the impact of recent bike lane and trail projects along segments of 200 South, 300 West and 400 South, which are also in the works, Jacobs told city leaders in an update to the process on Tuesday.
Which roads will be affected by SB242?
State lawmakers passed SB242 this year after requiring UDOT to study the impacts of recent Salt Lake City road projects in 2025. That study acknowledged construction fatigue, but also concluded that the projects didn't impact traffic much.
Still, the law gave UDOT more say on the city's busiest roads.
Salt Lake City unveiled its updated capacity routes map on Tuesday, which outlines city streets on four tiers, as the law dictated for future construction projects that involve traffic calming or lane reduction projects.
- Tier 1: Large segments of North Temple, West Temple, State Street, Redwood Road and Columbus Street, along with all or portions of 100 South, 300 West, 400 South, 500 South, 600 South, 700 East, 800 South and 2100 South are included in the first tier. Many of these streets are UDOT-owned. Salt Lake City can conduct safety projects on the roads, but they cannot affect traffic flow.
- Tier 2: Many other large streets are included in the second tier, including Main Street, 200 South, 400 West, 500 East, 900 West, 1300 East, 1700 South and 2100 East. Salt Lake City can conduct projects that might affect traffic flow with UDOT approval and analysis.
- Tier 3: A few key local routes are in the third tier, including 300 South, 300 East, 400 East, 600 East, 700 South, 800 East and pieces of 1100 East. Salt Lake City must provide a traffic analysis on the project, but UDOT approval isn't needed.
- Tier 4: Residential roads aren't included on the map and aren't affected by the bill.
The city worked closely with UDOT to map out the streets, city transportation officials said. Some roads, like 100 South, shift between tiers, depending on their vehicle traffic.
In addition to adopting the map, transportation officials are also seeking, with City Council approval, to repeal the city's "complete streets ordinance."
It was approved in 2010 to increase bicycle and pedestrian ways on every street, but it now conflicts with state law, said Tammy Hunsaker, director of Salt Lake City's Department of Community and Neighborhoods.
Some on the City Council had their reservations about removing the ordinance. City Councilman Chris Wharton asked if it could be narrowed instead to fit the Utah law.
That was considered, but it was determined to be too confusing for future planning staff and residents since it wouldn't be a uniform policy, Hunsaker said.
Salt Lake City, she said, would still seek to uphold the spirit of that plan where applicable. That includes a future bicycle and pedestrian plan, which would fit with what the state now requires.
"This is a shared goal with the state and UDOT. Safety is important to everyone," Jacobs said. "We want to make sure roads are places where people can safely maneuver and get around town."
The city also plans to work with emergency responders in future designs, among some of the other lessons learned, he added.
Future planning
New signage and clarification for delivery vehicles and better signal timing are the top ideas for the mitigation of recent projects referenced in SB242, city officials said. They also plan to have better business outreach to handle concerns.
There are still gaps in the city's trails and transit network, and future work there might revolve around local streets, where the city has more discretion
"We're going to really focus a lot of our future walking and biking investment on neighborhoods and local street neighborhood byways," Jacobs said, noting that it would still require crossing Tier 1 and Tier 2 streets, which will require signage and UDOT collaboration.
City leaders said they are happy that there will be greater focus on local streets, but they also have concerns about state oversight.
City Councilwoman Victoria Petro pointed to an incident on 1700 South as part of her concerns. A 6-year-old boy was severely injured after being hit by a truck in March while trying to cross the road to get to Glendale Regional Park.
It's a Tier 2 road, meaning that UDOT would have to sign off on a project that better links the homes on one side of 1700 South with the park on the other end. That's where SB242 still strikes a nerve with the city.
"I'm in favor of whatever the strongest tools are to communicate this, and for us to continue to work toward a full elimination of this preemption," Petro said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.