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, this summer based on comments from the Final EIS. UDOT will then need to finalize funding.
Stretching over 8 miles long, the gondola would begin at the base of LCC and include only 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.
Save Our Canyons strongly opposes the gondola because it won't solve traffic congestion, but instead threatens our critical watershed and limits canyon access for non-resort users.
We support 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.
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.
Take Action
Submit a Comment to Gov. Cox
Let Governor Cox know our community values the public interest over private profits and encourage the state to invest in a more accessible, year-round transportation option for LCC. Please remember to alter the message going to Gov. Spencer J. Cox to include your perspectives, ideas, and concerns for the future of LCC.
Partners Against The Gondola
Information
Facts About the Gondola
- 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.
- UDOT hasn't shared the cost to ride the gondola. According to estimates by the treasurer and former mayor of the Town of Alta, a ticket could cost anywhere from $90 to $200 per person.
- The gondola wouldn't operate during active artillery avalanche mitigation.
- The vast majority of the (record-breaking number of) comments submitted to UDOT were in opposition to the gondola. Students for the Wasatch tallied the comments submitted to UDOT between fall 2021 and 2022 and found 91% of people opposed the gondola. Other estimates put the number a bit lower at 61%.
- Local governments also oppose the gondola, including Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson and the Salt Lake County Council, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the Salt Lake City Council, Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski, and Town of Alta Mayor Roger Bourke.
Why We Oppose the Gondola
The issues we face in the Wasatch are far more complicated than simply adding a new mode of transportation. The gondola proposal:
- Doesn't solve the congestion issue
- The gondola will push cars farther back into Granite, Sandy and Cottonwood Heights as people line up for limited spots at the gondola’s parking facility. Those lucky enough to nab a parking spot will ride the gondola, and everyone else will line back up for a spot or drive up the canyon.
- Limits canyon access to non-resort patrons
- UDOT is asking Utah taxpayers to foot the bill for a gondola that serves two private businesses and their patrons (those who can afford to and choose to ride). Everyone else will be left to sit in the traffic below. The gondola, by design, is an exclusive experience.
- Non-ski resort visitors who wish to access other areas of the canyon to climb, backcountry ski, bird watch, angle, snowshoe (the list goes on) are left without a reliable transportation option other than their own vehicles.
- Access to transit and to our public lands should be equitable. Providing access to public lands must be affordable and efficient. A gondola does not promote justice, impartiality, and fairness for the majority of our communities. Further, damages to the environment and our watershed will not be paid for by the beneficiaries of these projects, they will be paid for by those who didn’t wish to be impacted in the first place.
- Endangers our critical watershed
- UDOT claims the gondola is the “environmental solution,” but in reality the project will leave an unimaginable ecological footprint. The construction of 22 towers over 200+ high will permanently disrupt trailheads, recreation areas, climbing routes, and the breathtaking views we love. Construction debris will jeopardize our critical watershed that supplies more than 60% of the Salt Lake Valley’s water, in the midst of an already historic drought. The Wasatch Mountains have a finite capacity, yet they’re being forced to support an endlessly growing population as we attempt to maximize resort patronage.
Maeve Reiss
Timeline
(Timeline adapted from UDOT's LCC project information.)
Spring 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.
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. After discovering the Wasatch Front Regional Council identified roadway improvements for LCC, such as widening Wasatch Blvd., in its 2019 Draft Regional Transportation Plan, UDOT decided to again change the EIS to include the council's "recommendation". 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.
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. UDOT opened another public comment period, this time focused on the three identified alternatives.
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.
2021
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. UDOT chose a phased approach because it would take years to secure funding and fully construct the gondola. 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.
March 2023
UDOT announced a new public comment period regarding two new reports.
The first report assesses the gondola's impacts on federally protected Roadless Areas, an issue UDOT failed to address during the EIS process. The gondola would require towers, angle stations, and snowsheds within one of the Wasatch’s most protected areas, impacting three Roadless Areas in Little Cottonwood Canyon: Twin Peaks, Lone Peak, and White Pine Roadless Areas. Road construction and timber harvesting are typically prohibited in these areas under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. UDOT claims building a gondola would be exempt from the Roadless Rule because the gondola is not a road, and any timber removal would be incidental. Learn more by reading our "Roadless Rule 101" blog.
The second report makes changes to the air quality analysis, most notably, the assumption that all buses would be diesel powered under the phased gondola plan. If UDOT can adjust its analysis to consider the possibility of using higher emissions fuels like diesel, why can’t UDOT also assess the impact of electric buses?
What's Next?
UDOT will issue its decision, this summer 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 and release it for public comment. The WFRC develops a new transportation plan every four years for the Salt Lake and Ogden metropolitan areas. While including the gondola in the plan doesn’t ensure funding, it does make it easier for UDOT to get funding for the project in the future. The WFRC will discuss the inclusion of the gondola in their final Regional Transportation Plan at its May 25th meeting at 2pm.
Public Comments Against The Gondola
- Save Our Canyons
- Wasatch Backcountry Alliance
- Salt Lake City (Authored by the Director of Public Utilities, Laura Briefer, who manages our watersheds in the Central Wasatch)
- Town of Alta
- Outdoor Thrift
Additional Articles
- Salt Lake County narrowly passes resolution condemning the gondola
- Add Salt Lake City to the growing list of governments against a gondola
- Community leaders say Little Cottonwood gondola advertisements are misinforming Utahns
- Cottonwood Canyon gondola would be an expensive boondoggle
- Here’s what it might cost to the ride the gondola
- Opinion: Why spend more than $500M when this option exists?
Interactive Maps
Gondola La Caille Alternative Visual
Save Our Canyons' Vision
- Please look through our interactive GIS map covering everything you need to know.
