Little Cottonwood gondola proposal advances as Regional Transportation Plan gets approved
ALTA, Utah (KUTV) — A gondola proposal over Little Cottonwood Canyon is one step closer to becoming a reality.
The Wasatch Front Regional Council unanimously approved the Regional Transportation Plan, which makes the gondola a possibility. However, council members said it’s still possible that the specific project might never get off the ground.
On Thursday, the council voted to accept the RTP, despite an effort from Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson to replace the motion with a substitute that would remove the gondola from the overall plan.
After the vote, there was a small amount of shouting from the project’s opponents. Some told KUTV they felt completely ignored, despite reassurances from the council saying, “We hear you.”
Critics said the gondola is an expensive, slow and dirty option that could ruin the landscape of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
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“The people that are really opposed to putting a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon are the users of Little Cottonwood Canyon in the summer, spring, fall and especially the winter," Wasatch Backcountry Alliance co-founder Brad Rutledge said.
His group has been urging the council to take the gondola out of the plan, altogether. He believes they have the legal authority to do so.
“I’ve looked back at the history of the Wasatch Front Regional Council. This is a group of mayors that are empowered to not just rubber-stamp things that come through UDOT," he said.
However, council chairman Dawn Ramsey, who is also the mayor of South Jordan, said it’s not that simple.
She said they were only allowed to accept or reject the plan as a whole, and they don’t have the authority to take out a project tied to federal funding.
“We are not the decision-making body that gets to determine that. We have a lot of flexibility about what goes into the plan, but somethings are not up to us," Ramsey said.
There is still a chance the gondola will never be built. That project is in the third phase of the overall Regional Transportation Plan.
The first two phases include increasing buses, adding tolling locations and widening Wasatch Drive. If those are successful, phase three might not be needed.
“Let’s work on these other solutions and there’ a very good chance that phase 3 with Little Cottonwood Canyon may not even happen. Or, it could look entirely different. It’s a couple of decades down the road,” Ramsey said.
If the council decided to reject the RTP, thousands of other projects would have been cancelled, including roadway improvements, public transit options and bike and pedestrian paths.
