Action Alert—Anti-traffic safety bill targeting Salt Lake City
Update: February 7th at 2 PM
The bill is on the agenda of the Senate Transportation Committee. If you haven’t contacted your Legislators and the committee yet, now is the time! It will be heard on Monday, February 9th at 3:40 PM. There will be an opportunity for public comment and we’ve added some tips on how to do so below. If the bill is new to you, scroll down to read more about what the bill contains and how you can write to your legislators.
Tips For Public Comment:
Talking points:
Last year, the committee chair limited comment to only a few people, with 2 minutes each. For those who are able to testify, your personal experiences as a multi-modal resident are important to share, as the bulk of the committee has ZERO experience with transit and urban cycling. Here’s some other things to keep in mind as you prepare your comments, or as you contact your representative lawmakers.
—The 200 South bus lanes are the most significant transit project since TRAX, facilitating more than 30 UTA buses per hour, plus the High Valley Transit 107 to Park City and, in the coming months and years, higher frequencies on the 2 bus and the launch of the Davis-SLC bus rapid transit service. If 200 South is “mitigated,” removing the bus priority lanes, they cannot install transit priority signals and these critical transit services will be jeopardized.
—UDOT has already studied 200 South and 300 West, and found that the addition of bus and bike lanes had a negligible impact on driving conditions while improving ridership and safety for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders. In other words, these projects WORK and UDOT has already confirmed this. SB 242 is a rejection of the facts, based on the vibes of drivers who only occasionally spend any time in SLC.
—The 400 South Viaduct Trail, which has not technically opened yet, is the SOLE dependable east-west crossing into downtown for non-drivers. Without it, pedestrians and cyclists must either interact with deadly car traffic or deviate out of their way to 200 South or 800/900 South, where they’re often blocked by freight trains. Drivers do not understand what it means to have so few safe and dependable options to get around, and non-drivers deserve ONE ROUTE into the city, especially when that route is aligned with the WFRC’s long-term regional plans.
—The criticisms against buffered bike lanes are not about safety, they’re about driver convenience. Every business owner and resident along those corridors still maintains the option of using a personal vehicle. The inconvenience is the additional attention required to navigate the street, which, in this distracted world, will benefit everyone. Traffic calming does not prevent driving, it compels SAFE driving. No amount of driver convenience justifies the willful endangerment of human life.
—The recent street redesigns do benefit visitors. Bill supporters have been pointing to the fact that not everyone who travels downtown lives here. However, they are assuming that everyone who visits downtown drove there, and that there is no benefit gained from Salt Lake City residents who did not drive. Not only do visitors use transit—the Green Line airport Trax, the regional Frontrunner, which connects to local transit like the 200 South bus lanes—local car-free trips means less competition for street space, so less congestion and more parking availability.
—Downtown is not Disney World. It’s made possible by its residents, they are the ones dealing with the local issues and pouring their sweat and tears into improving the city. There’s a reason why people visit downtown, they want all of the experiences that an urban center has to offer. But it’s not something that simply exists to be exploited. It’s a place where people live, and those people maintain the city so that others can enjoy it. Demeaning local decision-making results in less buy-in with residents, and less will to contribute to making the city a greater place to live and to visit.
How to get to the hearing and make a comment:
— The 200 bus runs a direct, high-frequency route between downtown and Capitol Hill. Catch it every 15 minutes on State Street or North Temple (free-fare service between 500 South and the North Temple Frontrunner Station) which includes a clockwise loop around the Capitol in both route directions. A large bike parking corral is located directly north of the East Senate Building, and a smaller bike rack is located outside the main entrance on the east side of the Capitol building. Public parking is available, but limited, on the street and underground.
—The East Senate Building is located on the east side of the Capitol complex, near the surface parking lots. The entrance to the building is from the interior courtyard on the west side of the building. Senate Room 220 is upstairs and toward the south side of the building and is one of the smaller committee rooms. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the hearing begins to secure a seat, particularly if you plan on testifying. We’ll try our best to coordinate to touch on different talking points, but don’t worry if not. There’s a good chance the room will overflow. For those watching online, the virtual committee hearing link will not post at le.utah.gov until shortly before the hearing begins.
—When the bill is called up by the committee, they will spend some time discussing among themselves before opening the hearing up to public comment. Listen for the chair’s directions and, when it’s your turn to speak, state your name and where you live, be calm and polite, and try to avoid insults or personal attacks against the lawmakers, who are looking for any excuse to disregard your perspective. Be prepared for a time limit on your comment. Usually it’s 2 minutes, but it could be as little as 1 minute, and this won’t be decided until the hearing. Consider having a short and a long version of your comment, or what note what you might cut out if need be.
— After the hearing, follow up with emails and calls to your Representatives and Senators, particularly for those members of our community who live outside of Salt Lake City. Stress that the bill must be amended before it passes to allow for safe streets and multi-modal transportation statewide.
End of update
The time has come, this year’s anti-traffic safety legislation has been introduced at the Utah Senate, and it’s bigger and badder than last time. After the UDOT study showed mostly neutral to positive impacts of recently constructed SLC street designs, the bill, numbered SB 242 (lines 3181-3274), replaces what passed last year, tossing out the UDOT study and expanding the scope.
Here’s what SB 242 - Transportation Amendments, includes:
Similar to last year
Targets “highway reduction strategies,” which is anything that UDOT deems as having the potential to permanently decrease the vehicle capacity. As written, it doesn’t matter if the road capacity is even being met. Strategies specifically called out include: lane reductions, lane narrowing, and anything that can “impede” traffic flow (this is a catch all)
Formalizes the road tier system mentioned in the UDOT study, identifying the streets where high-speed traffic is more important than safety. Tier 1 essentially cannot be touched, tier 2 includes study by the city and approval by UDOT, tier 3 is not mentioned but likely requires documentation, and tier 4 are residential streets that are left to Salt Lake City, though the crossings at higher tiered streets will likely still impact safety on these streets
New this year
Expands the geographical scope to include the west side to Redwood Road (previously was i-15), and to the southern city boundary (previously was 2100 South)
Requires “mitigation” (whatever that means) of the impacts of traffic calming on new sections of 300 West (the bikeway area), 400 South (the trail area), and 200 South in downtown
Includes anything that has the “potential” to impact or reduce on-street parking, specifically requires engagement and UDOT approval anytime 3 or more parking spaces on a block face are planned to be removed
Requires 12 foot travel lanes where possible, and a minimum of 11 foot travel lanes on Tier 1 streets. This reduces space for other uses (including parking) and may encourage speeding, see Cycling Utah for more)
Salt Lake City must enter an agreement with UDOT to establish the tiered “critical capacity routes map.”
The City-UDOT agreement must be in place before the end of the year and the City must work with UDOT to report back to the Transportation Interim Committee annually
The inclusion of the “mitigation” of recently built streets could mean more construction and wasted taxpayer dollars, all to make the street design less safe. The language in the bill is broad, and places the highest priority on hypothetical road capacity, with safety and local control pushed to the wayside.
What can you do?
Contact your legislators:
Find your legislators and their contact info using the map tool (enter your address then click on their name)
Draft a concise email (see writing tips in the next section)
Send emails to both your state representative and senator
Contact the Senate Transportation Committee:
The next step for this bill is to go to the Senate Transportation Committee. It’s vital these committee members know what is in the bill and your concerns.
Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville (Committee Chairman and bill sponsor)
wharper@le.utah.gov, M: 801-566-5466
Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton (Senate President)
jsadams@le.utah.gov, M: 801-538-1035
Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George
dipson@le.utah.gov, M: 435-817-5281
Sen. Karen Kwan, D-West Valley City (Senate Minority Whip)
kkwan@le.utah.gov, M: 385-249-0683
Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden
amillner@le.utah.gov, M: 801-900-3897
Sen. Kathleen Reibe, D-Salt Lake City
kriebe@le.utah.gov, M: 801-599-5753
Sen. Chris Wilson, R-Logan (Senate Majority Whip)
cwilson@le.utah.gov, M: 435-770-2861
Sen. Ronald Winterton, R-Roosevelt
rwinterton@le.utah.gov, M: 435-299-8531
It’s better to contact them individually, but if you don’t have time, here’s a list of all the senate transportation committee members that’s easy to copy:
wharper@le.utah.gov, jsadams@le.utah.gov, dipson@le.utah.gov, kkwan@le.utah.gov, amillner@le.utah.gov, kriebe@le.utah.gov, cwilson@le.utah.gov, rwinterton@le.utah.gov
Extra Credit:
Contact legislators who represent the district where you work (if different from those for your home address)
Share this email with family and friends and encourage them to contact their legislators. Not only are anti-safety bills putting their loved ones in Salt Lake at risk, but if they’re targeting Salt Lake City now, similar bills could be introduced elsewhere or statewide in the future!
Share this with local groups that would be impacted, such as community councils, schools, organizations, and businesses
Tips on Writing
Keep it brief
State who you are, include your address and relation to the legislator (state that you are a constituent or that the bill specifically targets where you live), and keep your main point up front
Limit to your strongest points
Make it personal
Feel free to add photos of people using the infrastructure targeted by this bill, it adds a human connection and provides evidence of everyday people biking to get around
Be courteous and to the point, but don’t shy from taking a firm position
Remember the pressure is not on your email alone to convince them, it need not be perfect, we just need as many people as possible to speak up
Negotiation Points
The first thing to request is the removal of Section 72-20-101, Local Highway Mobility Plans. This should capture all of the new text pertaining to Salt Lake City. It’s important to reiterate that the rest of the bill is okay. The bill will very likely pass no matter what, and you just want this section removed. If, instead of simply removing this section, the bill is negotiated to a ‘middle ground’, here are some specific items you can suggest be targeted:
Remove the required mitigation of the 300 West, 200 South, and 400 South projects, and state your support for the existing street layout.
Remove the section pertaining to minimum lane widths.
Remove the section on parking (ironically, parking can act as traffic calming)
Here’s an example.
Note your language may change depending on who you’re sending it to (your rep, or the committee, or the sponsor):
“Hello [Rep./Sen.],
I’m writing to express my opposition to SB 242 - Transportation Amendments, particularly the addition of Section 72-20-101, Local Highway Mobility Plans, which targets traffic safety infrastructure in Salt Lake City.
[Concise statement why, make it personal].
I would like to see a substitute bill removing Section 72-20-101. If this seems unlikely, here are some changes I’d like to see… [list suggested changes]
I’m a constituent and my address is…
Thank you for your time and consideration.
[Your name]”
We’ll do our best to keep you updated on the bill’s progress, but things move fast at the Capitol so don’t wait to contact your legislators. It’s best we act as soon as possible while the bill is still in committee.
Make sure your voice is heard!
