UDOT received 13,000 comments about Little Cottonwood Canyon

Everyone loves Utah powder. Photo: Gondola Works Coalition

LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON, Utah — The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) received 13,000 comments regarding the environmental impact statement in Little Cottonwood Canyon, according to Deseret News.

UDOT project manager Josh Van Jura told Deseret that their decision likely won’t come until spring of next year.

“The comments have certainly gotten longer as the comment period progressed,” Van Jura told Deseret. “Which is great. That’s the point of the comment period, those people spent more time reviewing the document, and therefore they have more complicated questions for us.”

He said they received one submission from a citizen that is 25 pages long.

Under consideration is the two transportation options that UDOT proposed for the canyon — enhanced bus service along State Route 210 or a gondola that would be the world’s longest.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson recently said she favored some form of enhanced bus service, similar to the sentiments expressed by the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance.

“I don’t like either choice, and frankly I think what we’ve done is chase the wrong thing for years,” Wilson said in a press conference this month. “It’s sort of like a Jenga game — if everything is stacked up perfectly, every assumption plays out, you’re going to be fine. But you pull one piece out and the Jenga pieces fall to the ground.”

Alta, Snowbird, and Ski Utah have come together to endorse the gondola, citing its improved avalanche safety.

In July, UDOT decided to extend the comment period to allow for a more thorough review. It was originally set to end on August 9.

“I will say there is a lot of support for the gondola. There is a lot of support for the bus. And there’s also support for no action,” Van Jura told Deseret.