No Gondola IN Little Cottonwood Canyon

Written by Development Director, Grace Tyler

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) started an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2018 to find transportation solutions for Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). In August 2022, UDOT announced the gondola as its preferred solution. UDOT will issue its Record of Decision (ROD), or final decision, in the coming weeks based on comments from the Final EIS. UDOT will then need to find funding for the alternative it selects.

Meanwhile, the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) voted to include UDOT’s phased gondola proposal in the Draft 2023-2050 Regional Transportation Plan. The WFRC develops a new transportation plan every four years for the Salt Lake and Ogden metropolitan areas.

Timeline Of Project

2018

UDOT began an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for LCC and Fort Union Blvd. to assess transportation solutions. UDOT opened its first comment period to receive input on the scope of the project.

We have spent the last two months working hard to bring the community together by hosting Writing for the Wasatch Workshops. These workshops provided the opportunity for those who are interested in advocating for yearround transportation solutions, additional Wilderness Area Designations, caring for public lands, caring for all groups who enjoy the Wasatch, and so much more, to have a place to share those thoughts and ideas.

Our main goal for the last two workshops was to remind the community of the importance of contacting their elected officials and to complete postcards that we will send directly to Governor Cox to amplify the importance of four main goals:

1. Year-round transportation and access for all.

2. A gondola-free Little Cottonwood Canyon.

3. Further protecting our watershed.

4. Keeping the Wasatch wild.

Our Grassroots Intern, Julia Stegvik, designed incredible images for each goal to encourage folks to color them in and interact with one another. Advocacy can take many forms and it has been inspiring to see how many of us want to see the Wasatch Mountains taken care of for now and for future generations. We want to send a massive thank you to our partners at Patagonia and Black Diamond Millcreek for providing welcoming spaces to host these incredibly important workshops and to all of you who joined us!

Stay Engaged

We can show unity in a variety of ways by: attending a public meeting, a Save Our Canyons event, signing a petition, volunteering with our organization, or writing a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed.

Ways to stay informed:

• Email list: Sign up for our action alert emails through our website

• Facebook: Save Our Canyons

• Instagram: @saveourcanyons

The proposed gondola is approx. 8-miles long. It would begin at the base of LCC and include two stops: Snowbird Ski Resort and Alta Ski Area. The gondola would consist of 20 towers and 2 angle stations, ranging from 130 to 262 feet tall. The estimated cost for the phased gondola project is over $1.4 billion (including the cost of the gondola, snow sheds, temporary enhanced bus service, etc.). Originally, UDOT estimated the cost to be $550 million.

Save Our Canyons supports lower-cost solutions that utilize our existing infrastructure, such as carpool incentives (ex. occupancy-based tolling), year-round enhanced bus service with stops at multiple locations and more frequent service at peak times, enforcement of the traction law, and mandatory parking reservations at ski resorts.

2021

2019

Based on the first comment period, UDOT modified the EIS to also consider avalanche mitigation, parking at popular access points, and spillover congestion onto Wasatch Blvd. A public comment period was open from March-June and again from November to December. UDOT ended the year with a list of over 100 concepts.

UDOT released the Draft EIS with two preferred alternatives: the La Caille gondola and an enhanced bus system with road widening. UDOT opened up a 70-day public comment period. After making revisions to a chapter in the Draft EIS, UDOT opened an additional public comment period in December 2021. The two public comment periods resulted in over 14,000 comments.

2022

UDOT released the Final EIS and identified the La Caille gondola, with a phased approach, as their preferred alternative. A final comment period ensued and UDOT received another 14,000 comments, bringing the total number of comments from 2020-2022 to over 35,000, shattering UDOT records.

Summer 2020

In June, UDOT identified three alternatives; an enhanced bus system with road widening, an enhanced bus system without widening, and a gondola beginning at the mouth of LCC.

Winter 2020

After nearly 7,000 public comments, UDOT published an addendum to add the options of a gondola and cog rail both beginning at La Caille, in addition to an enhanced bus system with and without road widening, and a gondola beginning at the mouth of LCC.

Take Action

While we’re disappointed UDOT is still considering the gondola after widespread opposition from local communities and public officials, we still have time to act:

1. SUBMIT A COMMENT TO GOV. COX (URL on website and social media)

2. Donate to Save Our Canyons to help protect the wildness and beauty of Little Cottonwood Canyon (Venmo: Save Our Canyons).