Reconnecting Communities: Healing Salt Lake City’s East-West Divide

Background

Salt Lake City is a city divided by a regional north-south transportation corridor created by freight and commuter rail at grade level and an Interstate Freeway above. These two regional connectors hinder east-west connectivity, alter community cohesion, and embed socio-economic inequities and environmental injustice into the fabric of the city.

The east-west division started in 1870, the year the Transcontinental Railroads famously joined in Utah. This was only 27 years after European settlement of area and well before the incorporation of the modern City Government. The rails were cause for great celebration, but also divided the city. When redlining maps were drawn in the 1940s, Westside neighborhoods were deemed undesirable and Eastside neighborhoods received the lion’s share of investment. The arrival of the freeways in the ensuing decades exacerbated the division and brought unsafe conditions and more pollution to the westside.

Now, finally, is the time to begin to come to terms with this divide. Reconnecting Communities is a robust community-centric planning effort to envision solutions for east-west crossings focused on a 6.1 mile highly urbanized corridor.

Read more background information in the Grant Application Narrative.

Federal Grant

Salt Lake City will receive more than $3.7 million dollars from the USDOT and local matching partners as part of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program. To foster connectivity and cohesion, funding will be used to support a planning analysis and prioritization of solutions for the transportation infrastructure surrounding the east-west divide. The work will begin with no preconceived notions about what solution(s) should be prioritized. The process will empower the communities most affected by the division to define the precise nature of the problem and propose solutions that address their needs and desires.

Funding Partners and Local Match Commitments

Salt Lake City | Utah Transit Authority | SLC Redevelopment Agency | SLC Public Utilities

Grant Application Information

In October 2022, Salt Lake City applied for a “Reconnecting Communities” grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation in order to launch a community-focused process to fully understand the current and past impacts of the divide, and to conceptualize, discuss, design, and estimate costs for both short-term and long-term solutions.

Community-based project partners including the Westside Coalition, NeighborWorks, and the Downtown Alliance have committed to help us in this initiative. Agency and institutional partners including the Utah Transit Authority, the Salt Lake City RDA, Union Pacific Railroad, and the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities will focus the technical and infrastructure needs to be considered when contemplating changes. This Reconnecting Communities grant builds on and strengthens a prior grant application from April 2022.

Read the full Grant Application Narrative.

Letters of Support and Comments from the General Public

Letters of Support

Salt Lake City Council – Westside Coalition – NeighborWorks – Downtown Alliance – Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR)* – Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) – U.S. Representative Chris Stewart – Central City Community Council – Central 9th Community Council – Fairpark Community Council – Glendale Community Council – Jordan Meadows Community Council – Poplar Grove Community Council – Rose Park Community Council* – Ballpark Community Council – Capital Hill Neighborhood Council* – 300 West Merchants’ Association – Bicycle Collective – Bike Utah – Building Salt Lake – City of South Salt Lake – Cycling West – Fisher Brewing – Fourth Street Clinic – Gardner Batt LLC – Granary District Alliance – GREENbike – Lux Events – Neighborhood House – Rio Grande Plan co-author, Cameron Blakely – Rio Grande Plan co-author, Christian Lenhart – Salt Lake Bees Minor League Baseball* – Utah Rail Passengers Association – Salt Lake City Arts Council – Salt Lake City Public Library – Salt Lake City Transportation Advisory Board – Salt Lake City Bicycle Advisory Committee – Salt Lake County– Salt Lake Education Foundation* – Salt Lake Garfield & Western / Patriot Rail – Shelter The Homeless – Sorenson Community Center – Sweet Streets – University of Utah – City & Metropolitan Planning* – Utah Inland Port Authority – Utah State Fair – Volunteers of America – Wasatch Front Regional Council
* East-West Connections support for similar grant ** updated letter forthcoming