December 13, 2021
Salt Lake City residents are invited to review draft plans for the 2023 reconstruction of Highland Drive/1100 East and provide feedback online through Dec. 30. The planned changes will see the important connector rebuilt from I-80 to Logan Ave., with special focus on improvements for pedestrians and cyclists and completing connections on the City’s eastside trail systems.
The draft plans can be reviewed online at avnu.cc/highland and are based on years of planning documents, including the Sugar House Area Master Plan, the 2013 Sugar House Circulation Plan, and the draft Local Link Study – all of which have included robust public engagement processes. Planned improvements will allow for a wide multi-use-path for pedestrians and cyclists stretching from I-80 to Wilson Ave., widened sidewalks, multi-use paths, bike lanes, improved drainage and more.
“Our goal is to make Sugar House a more comfortable place for people to be,” said Salt Lake City Transportation Planner Lynn Jacobs. “We know people are coming to Sugar House for its small local businesses, great food, beautiful trees, and unique energy. This project is designed to enhance what makes the area great through making it more comfortable to get around without a car – by walking, biking, transit or even ride-sharing.”
When complete, the project will connect the last gap in the Parley’s Trail System within Salt Lake City as well as providing connections from the Parley’s and McClelland Trails to area businesses – all without reducing travel lanes.
Over 11,000 vehicles use Highland Drive each day. Although the lanes will be reconfigured, a review of a decade worth of traffic counts shows that traffic volumes on major roadways in Sugar House have not increased at the same rate as development has occurred (traffic growth is approximately 1.5% per year on average, business growth is 9% per year).
“The exciting thing about this project is that we are able to provide more opportunities for people to walk and ride bikes without taking away the ability of people to continue to access the Business District as they have been in the past. We are doing this by making better use of the space we have on the roadway.”
The reconstruction project is a piece of Salt Lake City’s “Funding Our Future” bond passed by voters in 2018. Additional phases of public engagement will continue throughout the first half of 2022 with a final plan ready in Fall of 2022 and construction in 2023.
Review and feedback is available at avnu.cc/highland and project updates are available via email subscription at HighlandDr@slcgov.com.