Cyclists, pedestrians and motorists joined a host of Salt Lake City residents Monday to voice fears that a new attempt to involve the state in reviewing the city’s road designs could threaten their safety.
The steps advancing on Capitol Hill as part of Senate Bill 242 aim to limit some traffic-calming measures in Utah’s capital such as bike lanes and speed bumps, and would put new curbs on the city’s ability to slow vehicle traffic on its most traveled roads. The bill also could force some traffic-calming projects to be reversed.
In a major overhaul introduced Monday afternoon, the bill still calls for “mitigating” some previously installed traffic-reducing features along segments of 200 South, 300 West and 400 South, but adds the possibility of other streets being affected. One of the bill’s sponsors, however, said any such changes to roads would be minor, if they happened at all.
“The concept is that anything Salt Lake City has installed in the last couple years should not be modified,” said Senate President Pro-Tem Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, who added that the latest changes to SB242 reflected deep city input over several months.
Harper also denied assertions the new bill represented “a state takeover” of city roads — though he said there was a strong case for lawmakers and all Utahns having a stake in what unfolds on the streets of the state capital.
Given Utah’s heavy investments in roads, state buildings, recreation facilities and more in Salt Lake City, he said, “it’s incumbent upon us to make sure the framework’s there for the needs of all people to be met, whatever form of transportation they choose to use — walking, jogging, biking, motorcycling, transit, cars.”
Harper said the latest version of SB242 repeals measures in a prior bill referred to as SB195, passed last year with similar limitations on the city’s traffic-slowing efforts.
In the public’s first chance to weigh in on SB242 before the Senate Transportation Committee, nearly 20 residents warned that the bill’s focus on vehicle mobility put commuters and visitors ahead of cyclists, pedestrians and residents, and threatened to hinder the city’s ability to respond to community needs.
“We constantly hear from neighbors about the core issue of safety,” said Salt Lake City Council Chair Alejandro Puy. “People see concrete, paint and changes they’re not used to, but the real motivation here is to prevent people from getting hurt.”
Resident Rob Kramer testified to the committee wearing a cyclist’s helmet and high-visibility vest. “Obviously, I biked here,” he said. “I don’t get the safety that cars do.”
Like others who spoke, Kramer urged lawmakers to “get rid of this anti-safety, commuting bill.”
Others said the moves threaten to replace best practices in engineering design for lane widths and parking with more politically driven decisions from the Utah Department of Transportation. As written, the bill sets a minimum lane width on certain streets at 11 feet, down from 12 feet in a prior version.
“We have a current framework that allows UDOT, Utah Transit Authority and Salt Lake City to collaborate on balancing regional flow with local safety without the Legislature stepping in,” said Austin Whitehead, a student at the University of Utah. “Please allow them the flexibility to use our right of ways to make us safer and improve our quality of life.”
Resident Dana Holmes said that as a driver, he felt cyclist- and pedestrian-friendly changes along the 900 South and 300 West corridors in particular had benefitted motorists and others wending around the city.
“Allowing dedicated space and clear flows for non-vehicular street users,” Holmes said, “has improved my experience as a driver. I never find myself stuck behind cyclists or reacting to erratic drivers passing cyclists.”
The changes on traffic calming in SB242 are limited to Salt Lake City and are part of a multifaceted bill for transportation.
After Monday’s public testimony overwhelmingly fell in opposition to the bill, the legislation’s latest version cleared the Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Committee on a vote of 4-2, with two members absent. Opposed were Senate Minority Whip Karen Kwan, D-Taylorsville, and Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Salt Lake City.
SB242 now moves to the full Senate.