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- Over 50 business owners oppose the proposed Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola project.
- Concerns include costs, environmental impact, and limited benefits to two ski resorts.
- Lawsuits allege environmental violations, while supporters argue it reduces congestion year-round.
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — More than 50 business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs have joined the chorus of opposition against the proposed gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
In a letter Tuesday to Gov. Spencer Cox and the Utah Legislature, the group raises a litany of concerns over the estimated billion dollar project including the cost, the fragility of the narrow canyon and that it only benefits two ski resorts.
The letter asks state leaders to reconsider the proposal and pursue "more reasonable alternatives" that protect the canyon and "responsibly" address traffic issues.
"We strongly oppose using tax dollars for infrastructure benefiting private businesses. These funds would be better spent on other pressing transportation projects or diverted to infrastructure projects benefiting a greater number of Utahns. Additionally, the gondola poses a risk to the watershed, which has already seen rising E. coli levels due to increased visitation," the letter states.
Who should pay for the gondola?
The Utah Department of Transportation selected the gondola as a final phase project in an environmental impact statement completed in 2023, which started with a goal to cut about 30% of vehicle traffic in the canyon.
The plan calls for tolling and increased bus service in its first phase, as well as a mobility hub with 1,500 parking stalls by Big Cottonwood Canyon. New snow sheds are included in a second phase to address avalanche safety before a possible gondola. The 8-mile gondola line would offer service to Snowbird and Alta from a base with 2,500 parking spaces at the mouth of the canyon.
In 2023, Cox said the state shouldn't be the only one paying for the gondola and that private interests should play a role.
"I don't think the state should do it alone," Cox said. "And so those conversations will be ongoing — how much private participation can we get in building the gondola and, of course, implementing the record of decision that has come forth from UDOT."
The Legislature went into general session last week but no gondola-related legislation has yet to emerge.
For and against the gondola
UDOT's decision quickly drew opposition from government and nongovernment organizations.
Salt Lake City, Sandy and the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy filed one lawsuit, while local groups Save Our Canyons, Friends of Alta and International Outdoor Recreation Asset Alliance also sued.
The lawsuits were ultimately combined into one, alleging impacts on drinking water, wildlife and that other angles weren't properly studied, while multiple federal laws were violated. Opponents contend Utahns don't want to spend hundreds of millions in tax dollars to build what would be a blight on the beauty and environment of the mountain landscape.
Gondola Works, a coalition of canyon users and businesses including Ski Utah and Utah Clean Cities, says more than just skiers would use the gondola because it would be open year-round, easing congestion in the winter and summer. It also argues it would displace only two acres in the canyon and have far less impact on the environment and wildlife than widening the road through the canyon for buses.
Little Cottonwood Canyon congestion now
Taming the "red snake" — the often miles-long line of glowing red taillights going up and down the Big and Little Cottonwood canyons on a powder day or holiday — has proven a vexing problem for the four ski resorts nestled in the mountains east of Salt Lake City.
At a symposium sponsored by the Central Wasatch Commission earlier this month, the general manager of the four resorts identified transportation and parking among their biggest challenges.
Dave Fields, Snowbird president and general manager, said at the event that he sees a time in the next 10 to 20 years where people no longer drive their own cars into Little Cottonwood Canyon.
"It won't surprise anybody in this room that I hope in that time frame we have abandoned this idea that private vehicles are the way to get up into the mountains," he said, noting Utah is projected to have 5 million residents by 2050 and the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest has 9 million visitors annually.
Snowbird is a proponent of the gondola plan.
In April 2024, Alta Ski Area, the town of Alta and Alta businesses wrote what they called the "Red Snake Letter, " laying out several immediate congestion issues that were not addressed in the environmental impact statement. Specifically:
- The number of roadway entry points and roadside parking (including illegal U-turns and failure to yield to oncoming vehicles on the roadway) between Entry 1 and Entry 4 at Snowbird.
- Closure of state Route 210 between Snowbird Entry 4 and Alta (the "Mainline") during peak exit travel times and routing all traffic through Snowbird via the Bypass Road.
- Vehicles with inappropriate traction devices in the canyon during winter storms.
Individually, those issues paralyze emergency services, snow removal equipment and public transit and have resulted in accidents by vehicles traveling downhill in the uphill lane and collectively can cause two to three hours of gridlock in the town, according to the letter.
"We respectfully urge UDOT to address these issues before implementing the transportation improvements outlined in the EIS," the letter says. "From our perspective, the traffic congestion and gridlock created by these issues is more frequent and significant than many of the issues being addressed in the EIS."
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