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- Utah leaders passed SB195 after more changes to address concerns from Salt Lake City.
- The bill reverts to earlier language, limiting road study impacts to state roads within the city's core.
- Salt Lake City supports the latest changes, but it's still unhappy with the bill's intent.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers passed an omnibus transportation bill after it underwent one last change Thursday morning to account for concerns Salt Lake City raised over a last-second amendment to a road study portion in it.
Members of the Utah Senate voted 20-2 Thursday afternoon to pass seventh substitute SB195, hours after the Utah House of Representatives voted 61-9 to approve the bill. Both votes took place after Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, and Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, the bill's sponsors, met earlier in the day to review and adopt more alterations during a conference committee meeting.
Christofferson explained that the version reverts some of the bill's language about the road study back to the original version of the fifth substitute, which had been viewed as a compromise to the city's initial concerns of an earlier version of the bill. A previous version included a one-year moratorium on road safety projects, potentially impacting all roads with the way it was written.
The fifth substitute had called on a "highway reduction strategy" to review "permanently reducing the number of motorized vehicle travel lanes" along with a handful of other strategies that "may increase congestion for motor vehicles" on arterial or collector roads.
However, the bill language was adjusted again before a House vote late Tuesday, switching the language back to "highway." Christofferson said that it meant to reflect state roads in the city, but Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said the slight change to "highway" in the language could have wider impacts.
"When we use the word highway, that includes all local and state roads," she said.
A spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told KSL.com Wednesday that the city views the latest version as "concerning" again, after city officials had supported the original version of the fifth substitute. The House voted to pass the fifth substitute, but the Senate, which passed the previous version, refused to concur with the amendment Wednesday evening, prompting Thursday's meeting.
The seventh substitute switches the language back to "arterial or a collector highway" within a study area that is west of Foothill Drive, north of 2100 South, east of I-15 and south of 600 North. Those are larger roads generally managed by the Utah Department of Transportation, like 300 West or State Street.
"It limits it to the main roads," Christofferson said.
It also tweaks language tied to road safety projects that reduce existing travel lanes, narrow lanes or do anything that may "increase congestion or impede traffic flow for motor vehicles driving" on those types of roads. The bill would prevent projects from "permanently" implementing those while the study takes place, but the state would not step in if there's a temporary issue tied to construction or events, the representative added.
The city would also be allowed to move forward with any reduction strategy within the zone if a project had been "advertised on or before" Feb. 25. Salt Lake City approved a budget amendment on Feb. 18 that included funding more protected bike lanes at Capitol Hill, as well as bike and pedestrian crossing improvements along West Temple.
Christofferson said there were a few other city projects that will go through an "expedited" process so they're held up by the legislation. He added the changes reflect a meeting he had with Salt Lake leaders on Wednesday, which he said Mendenhall told him were "acceptable."
In a statement to KSL.com, Andrew Wittenberg, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office, said the city is pleased that Harper and Christofferson "worked with us to narrow" the bill's scope. However, he said the city is still unhappy with the bill's overall intent, explaining that traffic calming projects remain the top request city residents make.
"We have worked to strike a balance between meeting traffic-flow demands and making our streets safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, and UDOT has been involved in many of these projects as technical advisers and by providing funding," the statement read, in part. "However, the premise of this bill is yet another example this session of the state intervening in matters that are better addressed by those elected by city residents."
The final version of the bill also amends language to another section about electric unicycles and self-balancing skateboards, which essentially makes sure that kids playing in their neighborhoods aren't affected.
It now heads to Gov. Spencer Cox's desk for final approval. Barring a veto, many portions of the bill will go into effect on May 7, while other sections go into effect on July 1.
