5/1/2023 - Meeting Minutes SALT LAKE CITY
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD
Minutes of the May 1, 2023 Meeting
Present from the Transportation Advisory Board were Jim Espeland, Jon Larsen, and
Steve Wooldridge.
Electronically present from the Transportation Advisory Board were Ellen Reddick,
Greg Sanchez, John Close, Johnnae Nardone, Julie Bjornstad, Justice Morath, Leo
Masic, and Suzanne Stensaas.
Absent from the Transportation Advisory Board were Daniel Mendoza, Dave Alderman
and Pat Casey.
Electronically present were Amy Lyons, Julianne Sabula, Martin Cuma, Nancy
Monteith, and Max McLeod.
Also Present was Becka Roolf.
The meeting was held both electronically and in person and was called to order at 4:02
p.m.by Greg Sanchez.
Welcome and Introduction of Guests — Greg welcomed everyone.
Motion: Jim Espeland moved to approve the minutes of the April 3, 2023 meeting.
Justice Morath seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Public Comment—There were no members of the public.
BAC Monthly Update
Martin Cuma, BAC Chair
Martin said at the last BAC meeting, Ginger Cannon talked about what was happening
at the U of U from a high-level perspective. There was a bit of discussion about the bike
path between Research Park and the upper campus in relation to the army base gate.
She encouraged the BAC to write a support letter to the Research Park and the U of U
administration which they did. Martin heard back from them saying they are still
negotiating with the army base to open the gate and are hoping to have it open
sometime this year which is good news. Bill Baranowski talked to them about the round
abouts, and Jon Larsen talked about doing bike tours with the public and some of the
staff to go over recently finished bike projects or future projects. They discussed the
logistics of that and came up with several tours including one they will have in May
along the 60o East bikeway.
Green Loop
Becka Roolf, SLC Transportation&Nancy Monteith, SLC Engineering
Becka said there is a team of people who have been working on the Green Loop. She
introduced Nancy Monteith who is the senior landscape architect for the City and has
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been leading the current pop-up project as well as the design of Zoo East. Becka has
been Nancy's co-conspirator on this project, and they finally have the funding to start
making things happen so they're very excited. Nancy gave an overview of the project
while Becka showed a presentation of the plan. Jon said the concept originally came
from the Downtown Alliance and Nancy gave more information about the origin of the
plan. The green loop is a downtown active transportation-focused,linear park. She
went over the information as shown in the downtown master plan which is a space for
people as well as a space for ecological services and she showed a rendering of what it
could possibly look like. Becka showed the goals and the primary corridors they are
looking at. She pointed out the pop up right now on Zoo East and went over each
additional street being considered. The Granary study as well as the Green Loop study
will look at specific areas and the route may be adjusted. She showed some quick build
pop up parks in other cities. Becka gave the project website and let them know there
would be food trucks and concerts in the Zoo East Green Loop pop up until it's
removed. Nancy said it just opened today and there was a pretty good turnout for the
opening which is located between 300 South and 400 South. The biggest goal for the
green loop is to figure out how to integrate more green space in the central downtown
location. In a 2019 assessment of green space availability, it was estimated that the city
would need to add 94 acres of green space to accommodate projected growth which has
already been reached. John is curious as to the current alignment and if there has been
any input from the businesses and residents along the route. Nancy said the pop up is
the kickoff for the design project and they're hopeful to get a lot of attention, so people
sign up for updates and stay involved in the process. She went over the outreach they're
doing to get feedback. Their goal at this stage is that once people participate, they're
aware of the project and will stay involved but they haven't yet engaged in detail with the
businesses. Nancy went over all the citywide departments that would be involved in this
project. Johnnae asked what obstacles they foresee and if there was a way to speed up
the project. Nancy went over things they are working through with their consultant as
far as the plan, timeline, funding, and foreseen obstacles such as pushback from
motorists. Jon went over other projects within the city and said the parking, deliveries,
and fire access that are important are going to be challenging. Nancy said it's a big task,
so they need to get the supporters and keep the momentum going and share the vision
with as many people as possible. Becka said as far as TAB, they would love to have input
from every member. Nancy talked about the various stakeholder groups, and they want
to have someone from TAB as an active participant in that group. Johnnae asked for an
outline about what type of time commitment that stakeholder group will have. Nancy
said they're just putting the plan together now and she will follow up with them but said
they can probably anticipate 2-3 meetings over a 12-month period. Johnnae said she'd
be interested in participating and feels like this is an amazing project. Nancy went over
some of the events in the Zoo East Green Loop and encouraged everyone to participate.
5+5 Projects
Becka Roolf, SLC Transportation
Becka said the Green Loop is on the 5+5 list. The 5+5 list is an attempt to set the ideal
list of projects over the next io years with 5 years of projects being more closely defined
and the last 5 years being less defined. The 5+5 list is kind of where Transportation
anticipates asking for funding. It is an attempt to look out further to get out along with
other departments and divisions of the city so maybe they can get their lists to line up a
little better and put their projects together. She said it starts in 2025 because 2023 is
essentially done from the perspective of getting funds and the 2024 list in still in flux,
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waiting on the outcome of the FY24 CIP requests but is mostly a done deal. Jon said
this is something that's been morphing over the years and the exciting thing about this
is the interdepartmental coordination and now there is a capitol assets group to help
coordinate citywide so any department that maintains capital assets will be under a
unifying system for the planning. That group has just been formed but will help with
better unity, collaboration, and strategic thinking. He thinks for this group it's so
important for them to be able to shape and form that. Becka said having TAB give input
on what projects to select and what projects they want to move forward in seeking
funding on, really sets the stage for what the city will be like in the future. Becka gave an
update on the capitol improvement program for FY 2024 projects/applications.
Johnnae asked if Transportation would start coming to TAB with their 2025 projects
and Becka said that is their intention. Becka went through the 2025 project list which
she also sent out to members prior to the meeting. She went through each project, types
of funding required to complete those projects, and answered project specific questions
by members. Becka said she will send TAB a link to a dynamic map that they can click
on and see each year and what they're working on that. Several members brought up
projects that weren't yet on the list which Becka addressed. Some may be added to the
list, and some may be added to other projects, she also talked about possible funding for
those projects. The 2025 CIP applications will be submitted in October. Jon said they
did get a grant to study east/west connectivity which will include every rail crossing and
the freeways, so they'll do a really thorough study as well as some engineering and
environmental work to improve these east/west barriers.
Report Out — By Members
Due to time constraints, this agenda item will be moved to the next meeting.
Motion: Jim Espeland motioned to adjourn the meeting; Johnnae Nardone seconded
the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:32 p.m. and the next meeting of the Board will be a
joint TAB/BAC meeting and is scheduled for June 12, 2023.
TAB WebEx Meeting Chat
from Julie to everyone: 4:16 PM
Rode the Liberty Park section of the 9 Line today. Thanks for this great
project!
from Roolf, Becka to everyone: 4:26 PM
https://www.cL"eekly.net/utah/this-is-what-downtown-could-look-like-
salt-lake-city-launches-test-of-a-new-park-in-the-center-of-the-
street/ContenVoid=1988coc)
from Justice Morath to everyone: 5:29 PM
Thanks for responding to my question. I'd like the city to prioritize the
9oow railroad crossing issue. when a train stops there, the only other
north/south connection on the West Side is Redwood. and cyclists and
pedestrians are blocked from accessing Trax and commerce- exacerbating
the food desert over here.
Approved by Transportation Advisory Board o8-07-23.
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