Oct. 30, 2023

Less than 30% of the State Capitol’s downtown is within a 5-minute walk from green open space, and Salt Lake City wants to change that.

This past spring, Salt Lake City invited people who live, work, own a business, or visit downtown to give input on a temporary, pop-up Green Loop installation on 200 East between 300 South and 400 South. Thousands of people visited the space, and more than 1,000 responded to an online survey–input now being incorporated into the first draft of a redesign for 200 East from South Temple to 900 South.

“Salt Lakers love the outdoors and our temporary Green Loop installation this spring gave people the chance to see and touch what it would be like to create this urban park environment downtown,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. “We heard from community members that they want to see more street trees, green space, and features that reduce air and noise pollution while providing more pedestrian- and bike-friendly ways to get around downtown.”

This study is the first to examine the implementation of the full Green Loop. It is an opportunity for the City to develop goals, objectives, and guiding principles, then apply those to a concept for 200 East and consider general recommendations and preferred route for the northern and western legs of the loop connecting 200 East to North Temple and from North Temple to 500 or 600 West.

“People who visited the pop-up really enjoyed the way the road space was repurposed to include space for people and trees, while still accommodating the many other needs of access and traffic around downtown,” Salt Lake City Senior Landscape Architect and Green Loop project manager Nancy Monteith said. “The Green Loop offers us the opportunity to increase the forest canopy around downtown; reducing summer temperatures and improving air and water quality, while adding more green where the city needs it most.” 

Since the spring pop-up, the design team—led by Monteith and consultants Wenk Associates—has been hard at work. The team has reviewed public feedback from the event, an online survey, and technical constraints like fire code, underground utilities, traffic numbers, and other factors to develop 200 East design ideas for public review.  

The draft design will be presented for discussion at in-person events on Thursday, Nov. 2, including:

• An outreach table where the public is encouraged to drop by to learn more from the project team between noon and 6:30 p.m. at Plaza 349 located at 349 S. 200 East;
• Walking tours with members of the design team departing at noon, 2 p.m., and 4:30 p.m., and are expected to last approximately 45 minutes each; and  
• A bicycling tour departing at 5:30 p.m., weather permitting.

Through November, the public can also provide feedback via a new online survey at www.SLCGreenLoop.com.

Less than 30% of the State Capitol’s downtown is within a 5-minute walk from green open space, and Salt Lake City wants to change that.

This past spring, Salt Lake City invited people who live, work, own a business, or visit downtown to give input on a temporary, pop-up Green Loop installation on 200 East between 300 South and 400 South. Thousands of people visited the space, and more than 1,000 responded to an online survey–input now being incorporated into the first draft of a redesign for 200 East from South Temple to 900 South.

“Salt Lakers love the outdoors and our temporary Green Loop installation this spring gave people the chance to see and touch what it would be like to create this urban park environment downtown,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. “We heard from community members that they want to see more street trees, green space, and features that reduce air and noise pollution while providing more pedestrian- and bike-friendly ways to get around downtown.”

This study is the first to examine the implementation of the full Green Loop. It is an opportunity for the City to develop goals, objectives, and guiding principles, then apply those to a concept for 200 East and consider general recommendations and preferred route for the northern and western legs of the loop connecting 200 East to North Temple and from North Temple to 500 or 600 West.

“People who visited the pop-up really enjoyed the way the road space was repurposed to include space for people and trees, while still accommodating the many other needs of access and traffic around downtown,” Salt Lake City Senior Landscape Architect and Green Loop project manager Nancy Monteith said. “The Green Loop offers us the opportunity to increase the forest canopy around downtown; reducing summer temperatures and improving air and water quality, while adding more green where the city needs it most.” 

Since the spring pop-up, the design team—led by Monteith and consultants Wenk Associates—has been hard at work. The team has reviewed public feedback from the event, an online survey, and technical constraints like fire code, underground utilities, traffic numbers, and other factors to develop 200 East design ideas for public review.  

The draft design will be presented for discussion at in-person events on Thursday, Nov. 2, including:

• An outreach table where the public is encouraged to drop by to learn more from the project team between noon and 6:30 p.m. at Plaza 349 located at 349 S. 200 East;
• Walking tours with members of the design team departing at noon, 2 p.m., and 4:30 p.m., and are expected to last approximately 45 minutes each; and  
• A bicycling tour departing at 5:30 p.m., weather permitting.

Through November, the public can also provide feedback via a new online survey at www.SLCGreenLoop.com.