In an effort to reduce canyon congestion, the Utah Legislature tasked the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to bring enhanced bus service and tolling to SR-190 in Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC), this is referred to as the BCC Project. As required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), UDOT, the lead agency, and the United States Forest Service (USFS), a cooperating agency, are most of the way through the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the BCC Project. The EA evaluates the potential environmental, social, and recreational impacts of UDOT’s “proposed action,” which would go into effect if the EA successfully leads to a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). If this happens, the project will result in a mobility hub at the base of BCC, increased bus frequency throughout the canyon, improved bus stops at resorts and trailheads, and tolling for the upper canyon.

A public comment period is open through January 19, 2026, and we strongly encourage you to share your input.

Click here to submit your comment.

With several hundreds of pages in this EA, Save Our Canyons has a lot of work cut out to craft a technical comment that speaks for the wildlands and watershed, while also advocating for sound, on-the-ground transit solutions. Last winter (2024), Save Our Canyons met with UDOT staff to discuss the developing EA and advocated for our preferred, conservation-focused solutions for Big Cottonwood Canyon.The good news is that so far we are generally very supportive of this plan, and look forward to its hopeful completion by 2030. UDOT and the USFS have been strong partners throughout this process, engaging collaboratively and transparently as the project has taken shape.

There are some details we plan to nitpick in our technical comments, but overall this is a positive example of how agencies can build solution-oriented consensus on an issue that affects us all. This effort also represents a meaningful opportunity to ensure that transit investments genuinely reduce pressure on the watershed and surrounding wildlands—long-standing priorities for Save Our Canyons.

This project doesn’t come without some significant infrastructure additions. If you want reliable and comfortable bus service for thousands of people, with growing visitor numbers over the next 25 years, you need high capacity, comfortable bus stations. One of the proposed stations would disturb roughly 2 acres of currently undisturbed land along Big Cottonwood Creek, something we are normally firmly opposed to. However, when looking at the full picture, a 2-acre public transit hub adjacent to an existing resort is far preferable to the alternatives: a 14-acre parking lot across the highway, new aerial connections, or another two decades of gridlock. This is a concession for the greater benefit of the project that we don’t take lightly, both our comment form and our technical comment will point to improvements we recommend to limit impacts to watershed and wildlife.

• Proposed mobility hub location Proposed mobility hub location
• Proposed Spruces Campground bus stop improvements Proposed Spruces Campground bus stop improvements
• Proposed Solitude bus stop Proposed Solitude bus stop
• Bus lane and bus stop at Brighton Resort Bus lane and bus stop at Brighton Resort
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What the BCC Project does:

• It provides enhanced bus service, with 5-10 minute frequency during winter peak-hours.
• It constructs a 1,750 parking space mobility hub*, with a grade-separated interchange at the current site of the gravel pit near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
• It improves trailhead bus stops at Cardiff Fork, Spruces Campground, Silver Fork, and Silver Lake.
• It constructs indoor bus stations at Solitude Mountain Resort and Brighton Resort.
• It reduces predicted peak-hour travel times by 16-31 minutes based on modeled conditions in 2050.
• It widens the road around Brighton Loop to facilitate a bus priority lane.
• It establishes tolling for personal vehicles in the upper canyon, likely starting below Solitude Entry 1. The exact costs, method of toll collection, and starting point are still undecided. It is also uncertain if, or how employees and residents will be exempted.
• It adds 3.20 acres of impervious surfaces (pavement and buildings) to BCC. While modest in scale compared to parking lot and gondola proposals in the Cottonwoods, this still requires careful design and stormwater management to avoid incremental impacts to the canyon’s water quality.

What the BCC Project does not do:

• It does not improve year-round transit. The EA’s stated purpose is to reduce wintertime traffic congestion. SB 2, passed in 2023, directed UDOT to improve transit in BCC, but it did not specify a season. We encourage UDOT to expand the scope of the BCC Project to include year-round transit, preferably in this EA, or in a second phase of this project.
• It does not account for connection to regional transit networks. SB 2, passed in 2023 specifically directed UDOT to improve transit in BCC. It would take legislative action and funding to expand the scope of this project, but it does not preclude UDOT from coordinating with other entities, such as the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) to improve connectivity with existing regional transit networks. Strengthening these connections is vital for reducing single-occupant vehicle trips into the canyon, which remains one of the most effective long-term strategies for protecting watershed function and reducing cumulative recreational impacts while improving equitable access.

Our recommendations:

• We ask that UDOT and elected officials actively partner other agencies (USFS, UTA, WFRC) to increase the efficacy of this investment by expanding to year-round service, and connecting to existing regional transit networks - whether it is in the scope of this EA, or additional phases and partnerships.
• The proposed location for the Solitude bus stop raises concerns, particularly given the need to protect sensitive watershed areas. If it were not part of a much larger transit solution, we would be strongly opposed to developing 2 acres of undeveloped land directly adjacent to Big Cottonwood Creek. We accept this concession for the good of the larger project, but ask that UDOT and Solitude study and strongly consider:
  • Alternative locations on already-developed land.
  • Integrating the pedestrian bridge over the creek into the existing parking lot bridge.
  • Moving the associated 1,574 square foot UDOT maintenance vehicle storage area to a location that is lower impact to the watershed.
  • Locating at least 2 additional acres of disturbed land in the canyon to be restored and preserved as an offset.
• We ask that the tolling system be established in a way that exempts residents, employees, and those accessing public land in the upper canyon.
• We ask that tolling and enhanced bus service be implemented in Little Cottonwood Canyon at the same time to avoid reasonably foreseeable visitor use impacts to neighboring recreation sites.
• As UDOT clarifies bus routes, we hope to see express routes to the ski resorts as well as buses specifically for dispersed recreation.

FAQ’s

• Who will run the bus service?
  • The EA does not clarify who will be the service provider, though UDOT will likely pursue alternative options to UTA.
• What does the BCC Project cost and who is paying for it?
  • In addition to funding already programmed for the mobility hub by the LCC EIS, capital costs for this project are $144.4 million, which it is assumed would come from legislative appropriations, and possibly contributions from municipalities, agencies, and resorts.
• When will the BCC Project be implemented?
  • If the proposed action is selected, it could begin as soon as spring 2027, and be completed by 2030.

Additional Resources

• Proposed Action Fact Sheet
• EA Executive Summary
• Mobility Hub and Bus Stop Plans
• Resort Bus Stop Renderings
• Full EA Document

No it’s not perfect, but the BCC Project is a breath of fresh air in the wake of all the transportation issues we’ve had to come out against in recent years. We encourage you to look through the plan documents and write a comment in support of common sense, cost effective transit solutions in Big Cottonwood Canyon.