Foothill Drive resurfaced, bike lanes forgotten

Commuter traffic moves southbound near Sunnyside
on Foothill Drive during rush hour. There are currently
no plans to accomodate bicyclists on Foothill.

There has been some discussion recently about how the City missed an opportunity to ask UDOT to include bike lanes in the current resurfacing project on Foothill Drive.  While the City did miss an opportunity, it was not for lack of asking.

Becka Roolf, SLC Bike/Ped Coordinator, said,
Salt Lake City had asked about bike lanes much earlier in the project, and UDOT declined the possibility. This call was not made by your humble Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator, but by SLC Transportation Division Director, Tim Harpst.

Yes, there might be space for bike lanes on Foothill working within the existing curb.  Were bike lanes to be added within the existing width, UDOT would need to both reduce the width of the center turn lane and reduce the widths of the current travel lanes.  You may be interested to know that UDOT declined to narrow the travel lanes even for the purposes of adding another travel lane (aka car lane) in the southbound section between 2300 E and I-80.

The lack of willingness to accommodate bicyclists follows the recommendations of the Foothill Drive Corridor Study (from 2008) that was conducted by the Wasatch Front Regional Council.  The bicycle-related recommendations from this study (to not accommodate bicycles on Foothill) are pasted below.  Had this study reached a different conclusion, bike lanes would be implemented in the current resurfacing project.

However, all is not lost!

The SLC City Council is interested in doing a further study of the Foothill corridor.  To what degree this includes the street itself is still in flux; the study may more focus on the adjacent zoning and the aesthetics of the corridor as a gateway into the city.  (Those who are particularly interested may wish to talk to your council members and/or legislators.)

Please let me know if you have other questions.




Excerpt from the Foothill study,


Bicycle Provisions

There are no current designated or planned bicycle lanes on Foothill Drive and cyclists are discouraged from using Foothill due to high traffic volumes and speeds (primarily a peak period issue). Alternative bicycle routes in the corridor are encouraged. They include 2100 East and 2300 East (both marked bike lanes). There is also a designated bicycle route along Wasatch Drive. This route is part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and is classified as a signed shared roadway. This trail remains nearly parallel to Foothill Drive until 1300 South where it heads east and thus is currently not a good alternative for travel to the University area. This route includes a shared use path on the south end of the corridor (running on the east side of Foothill from Thunderbird Drive) connecting to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. A recently completed bicycle/pedestrian bridge over I-215 just south of I-80 has extended this trail.

Foothill study's "recommended strategies"

- Continued emphasis on parallel bicycle routes with improvements is recommended.
- Suggested improvement strategies include:
     - Extend shared use path north to intersect with Wasatch Drive at Broadmore St.
     - Construct a new bicycle path through the Bonneville Golf Course to connect
Wasatch Drive with the existing bicycle lanes on Sunnyside and Arapeen (providing a more direct route to Research Park and the University).

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