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SALT LAKE CITY — A major road within Salt Lake City's west side is getting a makeover to improve safety as the population around it grows.
Salt Lake City recently received a $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which will help the city implement what it calls "countermeasures" to six intersections within a nearly 7-mile stretch of Redwood Road.
The changes will include more sidewalks, retimed signals and three high-intensity activated crosswalk beacons, which are the type of crosswalks where red lights are activated when a pedestrian pushes a button to cross the street.
The project accounts for most of the $5 million that the department awarded Utah projects through the program created by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The remaining $2.1 million was directed to various other projects in the state, involving Alpine, Cottonwood Heights, Heber City and Orem, as well as the Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District and Jordan River Commission.
"We should be energized by the fact that together we've reduced traffic fatalities for more than two years in a row now — but so much work remains to fully address the crisis on our roads," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement last week.
But the plan to revamp pedestrian safety along Redwood Road comes as Salt Lake City reports its west-side population has grown by about 20% in recent years. New developments along or near Redwood Road and other major road corridors like North Temple have spurred a large chunk of the growth in the area.
That's also required new ways to view the roads.
"As our city grows, we must meet increased demand with safer routes and pedestrian access on our roads," said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
As more residents move in, city transportation officials note that other infrastructure items like bus stops and urban trails are needed to make it easier and safer for residents who may not have cars to reach their jobs, schools, stores or other important places.
Salt Lake City transportation director Jon Larsen said he believes the Redwood Road projects will be meaningful for residents who rely on the road. He believes it can help the city reach its goal to curb "traffic violence."
Work to improve safety along Redwood Road may just be the beginning for the west side, too.
Mendenhall informed the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday that the city plans to begin this fall a study that aims to improve connections between the city's east and west sides. It received a separate $1.97 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help fund the study.
She said the study may outline more smaller projects that help residents smoothly cross barriers like the city's freeways and rail lines or a "big transformative project." Salt Lake City Councilman Dan Dugan told KSL.com in August that the Rio Grande Plan — an effort to bury the railroad lines underground — could be considered as a solution to these barriers.
The study will ultimately include "preliminary" engineering drawings, cost estimates and a plan to fund the projects that are decided on, the mayor added. It wasn't immediately clear when those results would be published, but she said efforts to gather information are on the horizon.
"The community is going to see a lot more to come in these coming months," she said.
