With a snip of scissors, Salt Lake valley government leaders officially opened two new sections of the Parleys Trail for bikers, walkers and other recreation uses on Tuesday.
The completed segments now connect 8 miles of recreation space between the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in Millcreek City and 900 West in Salt Lake City.
“This opening marks a great step forward for active transportation and east-west connectivity in the valley,” Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said at the ceremony in Tanner Park. “Greater multi-modal trail infrastructure promotes healthier communities by creating more opportunities for people to walk and bike more.”
The 1.5 mile eastern segment connects the shoreline trail with Sugar House Park and features two bridges and a tunnel.
The western segment connects 300 West with 900 West, crossing under interstates 15 and 80, and over the rail switching yards and Utah Transit Authority TRAX lines in South Salt Lake.
The complexity of building trails through developed urban landscape makes their completion a “major engineering feat,” county parks and recreation spokesman Clayton Scrivner said.
The eastern section was paid for through a $7 million parks and trails bond passed in 2012 . The western segment cost roughly $1 million, Scrivner said.
A third trail segment, which will connect 900 West to the Jordan River Parkway, is in development.