City leaders are rethinking aspects of the city’s mobility plan based on input provided by residents at community events and in a city survey. The proposed changes update the city’s 10-year plan, which is currently about halfway through its intended lifespan.

Mobility Planner Carl Osterberg outlined the proposed changes at an Oct. 15 city council work session.

“We got actually a lot of feedback from residents, some of them in person, some of it at a survey that went out,” Osterberg said. These updates were based on a combination of public feedback and input from other city departments.

Among the new concepts proposed is a comfortable walking loop in downtown South Salt Lake. This would serve a recreational need for the growing number of residents and visitors, especially since the city currently lacks sufficient property to create a traditional park space downtown.

“I think a lot of people are getting excited about Salt Lake City's Green Loop and want to see something similar to that in our area,” Osterberg said. 

This walking loop would also be a backbone of the multimodal transportation system, connecting important locations such as State Street, transit stations, housing and other commercial areas, according to the plan.

The plan suggests that the city could also maximize where residents can travel comfortably by utilizing quick-build solutions—such as traffic paint, flexible plastic posts and planter boxes—rather than focusing resources on a few major thoroughfares.

“We got a lot of feedback that improving the amount of facilities that we have, the places people can go, is more important than having a couple really great thoroughfares that don't go everywhere necessarily,” Osterberg said.

The plan continues to emphasize the need for safe and comfortable east-west connections. Currently, the only continuous east-west street through the center of the city is 3300 South. 

While Parley’s Trail provides a safe corridor on the city’s north end, the updated plan notes that, beyond that, “no safe, continuous connections exist across town.”

To address this, the plan has designated several projects as high priority:

Central Pointe TRAX Station Expansion: Improving the area to make the station accessible from the east side of the tracks.

Mill Creek Trail: Creating a safe, comfortable trail that runs along Mill Creek from the Jordan River to 700 East.

Gregson Avenue Neighborhood Byway: Establishing a quieter, safer route along Gregson Avenue.

State Street Crossing Safety: Implementing a safer crossing of State Street near Woodrow Wilson Elementary.

Complete Street in downtown SSL: Developing a continuous “complete street” from 300 West to State Street in the city’s downtown area.

The proposed changes will be presented to the planning commission in the coming months before returning to the city council for final approval, Osterberg said.