Little Cottonwood Canyon Gondola

UDOT revised the public scope of the project twice in March 2019, first based on 2018 feedback, and then again based on the 2019–2050 Regional Transportation Plan prepared by the Wasatch Front Regional Council.

The department’s new notice of intent detailed more specific improvements the agency would analyze — like roadway improvements on SR-210 and improved parking areas at U.S. Forest Service trailheads.

UDOT officials announced the gondola as their preferred choice for traffic mitigation in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The EIS showed the gondola approach would take place in phases — with the first phase including enhanced busing and tolling, the second adding on snowshed and trailhead improvements, and the third cutting the initial enhanced bus service and building the gondola’s infrastructure. A public comment period was opened from Sept. 2 to Oct. 17, 2022.

An official said a toll in the Cottonwood Canyons would only be in place on busy ski days within certain times, and it would not be in place year-round or even every day during ski season. Those who want to visit the area of Little Cottonwood Canyon leading up to Snowbird Ski Resort would not have to pay the toll, but those going further or visiting the resort would be required to pay.

Cox explained he was on the record “a long time ago” saying the gondola was a good idea, but that he also supported UDOT’s phased approach with expanded bus service as a short-term solution — since it will allow lawmakers to see what changes work in the canyon as the plan progresses.

In September, UTA cut one of its two ski bus routes to Alta and Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The remaining route — and the route going to Brighton and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon — was also limited to service every half hour, instead of every 15 minutes. Although UTA hopes to have a full roster of drivers by 2023’s ski season, UTA manager of service planning Eric Callison said he expected gaps in service to continue for a few years.

A tower for the proposed gondola would be situated just below The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ secretive Granite Mountain Records Vault. And prior to the gondola decision, Snowbird bought two parcels of land where a proposed gondola base station and 2,500-stall parking garage would be located. The U.S. Forest Service also maintains about 5 acres of land where the gondola’s base stations and towers would be built.

The money was allocated for "enhanced bus service, tolling, a mobility hub, and resort bus stops for Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons," the bill states. A UDOT official said the funds would only be used once UDOT issued its record of decision for Little Cottonwood Canyon, but expanding bus service could take up to two years to complete — so the canyon wouldn't see those changes until the 2025-2026 ski season. The bill's language also limited UDOT to spending the money on existing forms of public transit, so the funds couldn't go to gondola construction.

LPOA makes cable-propelled apparatuses — cable cars, gondolas, trams and the like — for urban transportation. LPOA’s president and CEO said he would classify the proposed gondola through Little Cottonwood Canyon as an “urban transportation” project.

Fields said opening Snowbird during April's historic snowstorms wouldn't have been a question with a gondola in place. He believed it also would have allowed supplies to be delivered quicker and guests to leave earlier, since many were trapped at the resort amid avalanche risk.

UDOT will first work to buy more buses, design mobility hubs and make plans for tolling in the canyon. UDOT wants these updates done by the fall of 2025.

A UDOT official said the department has secured about $211 million of the $240 million required for phase one of the plan — which includes changes to both Big and Little Cottonwood canyons — but there is still a remaining $716.1 million in capital costs for the plan’s next two phases. The department’s total estimated cost for the gondola project is $955.4 million, plus $21.7 million in annual operating cost and maintenance.

A UDOT official said the final EIS surpassed any previous environmental study in UDOT’s history with over five years of research and a careful review of around 50,000 formal public comments. Over the course of the project, the department evaluated over 100 alternative concepts before narrowing it down to the five presented in the draft EIS.

UDOT officials are focusing on what’s funded so far: phase one, which includes enhanced busing, building a mobility hub, enhanced resort bus stops, tolling implementation and roadside parking restrictions. Phase one’s total cost is about $240 million, plus annual operations costs totaling about $17.3 million.

Phases two and three are dependent on funding, and UDOT didn't have a specific timeline on when they would be available.

However, the Wasatch Front Regional Council included a timeline for its inclusion of the gondola in a long-term regional transportation plan, which explained phase two would implement avalanche snow sheds, trailhead improvements, and widen Wasatch Boulevard between 2033-2042. This phase is estimated to cost about $187.5 million.

Phase three of the gondola includes the gondola's actual construction, a parking structure, access-road improvements, and reconfiguring the Little Cottonwood Canyon "Park and Ride."

This phase is estimated to be completed between 2043-2050, according to the Wasatch Front Regional Council's timeline, and will total about $528.6 million in capital costs, plus $4.4 million in annual operations.