State transportation officials plan to use hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to sink a portion of 300 West and create an elevated pedestrian plaza to serve Salt Lake City’s sports, entertainment, culture and convention district.
New details of the project, first reported by news website Building Salt Lake, include plans for lowering 300 West by about 10 feet between South Temple and 100 South. The Utah Department of Transportation would then build a pedestrian plaza about 10 feet above ground level and over the sunken road, department administrator Robert Stewart said. This plaza would connect the Delta Center to a portion of land Smith Entertainment Group purchased in April that is currently occupied by a chunk of the Salt Palace Convention Center.
Funding for the 300 West project was allocated this spring by state lawmakers, tucked away on line 3,644 of a massive 126-page transportation bill late in the legislative session. The $300 million for this project comes on top of about $900 million in sales tax revenue that has already been earmarked for the SEG-led sports district.
Stewart said the pedestrian plaza will be 300 feet wide, the length of a football field without the end zones. How pedestrians will access that plaza — whether through stairs or some other way — will be worked out in the coming months.
The closest roadway example to what UDOT will do along 300 West is in Riverton. There, 12600 South sinks by about 10 feet, and Bangerter Highway rises by about 10 feet, Stewart said.
Closer to the project area is a section of 200 West which sinks below the Salt Palace between South Temple and 100 South. That is more of a true tunnel, Stewart added, since 200 West sinks deeper and the building above the road is at the same elevation as the surrounding area.
“What we really want for this, this pedestrian plaza, to be is something that the entire community and state is proud of,” Stewart said. “... In UDOT, we typically make your traditional bridge — we carry cars over. We really hope for this to be a lot more of a pedestrian-friendly, pedestrian-centric plaza that connects those two things.”
Sometime this fall, UDOT plans to hire a contractor and designer who will then work with SEG, the Japanese community (historic Japantown is in the project area) and other community groups to refine designs, Stewart said.