SLC’s East-West Connections across I-15 & Railroads

SLC’s East-West Connections

CRITICAL CONNECTIONS: Healing Salt Lake City’s East-West Divide

Salt Lake City recognizes the daily challenge for people traveling east-west across the divide of Interstate 15 and several sets of freight / passenger railroad tracks. This divide is particularly daunting for people traveling by foot or bicycle.

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.

Grant Application Narrative – Critical Connections

Funding Partners and Local Match Commitments

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

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