Yesterday, UDOT announced that it is moving forward with the Gondola Alternative B plans for transportation in Little Cottonwood Canyon. A full summary of their Record of Decision is available at https://littlecottonwoodeis.udot.utah.gov/record-of-decision/.
The Gondola Alternative B plan involves several components, which UDOT is now planning to implement in phases following the timeline below.
If my understanding of recent legislative appropriations and UDOT's plans are correct (and you should correct me if I'm wrong), UDOT has a commitment for the process through the Phase 1 Implementation, which is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2025, and would improve and increase bus service, add a mobility hub at the gravel pit near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, add bus stops at Snowbird and Alta, add tolling above the White Pine Parking lot, and impose parking restrictions along SR-210 near Snowbird and Alta.
The mobility hub would be accessed by southbound traffic via an underpass much like a highway exchange. It would hold 1,500 vehicles. Bus service frequency would be every 10-15 minutes, assuming they get drivers. I'm curious what will happen with the gravel pit. Is it being shut down and the land reclaimed? Will it still be operating? The dust would be a disincentive for using the lot.
A major shortcoming of these plans is that there does not appear to be any bus stops at trailheads like White Pine. The situation at White Pine, the primary access point for the vast Lone Peak Wilderness and White Pine Canyon, is deplorable. It is a heavily used trailhead with very limited parking. A bus stop here would be extremely impactful, although this would require some infrastructure upgrades to provide space for safe bus service. The UDOT alternatives do include parking lot expansions (White Pine would go to 144 spaces), but a bus stop would make more sense. Yes, this would increase transit time to the resorts by perhaps a minute or two, but in any sane transit system that I've ridden in Europe, there would be stops at trailheads and these would be prioritized over parking lot expansion.
It is in Phase 2 that the White Pine (as well as Gate Buttress, Bridge, and Lisa Falls) trailhead lots would be built, expanded, or improved. There is currently no funding available for this, so the challenges at White Pine look to continue for some time. Also in Phase 2, snow sheds would be built across the White Pine Chutes, White Pine, and Little Pine avalanche paths. My view is that properly built and landscaped snow sheds are less of a blight than the current road cut (and far safer), so I am supportive of this.
For the most part, the above plans seem reasonable, although in Phase 2 there is also expansion of Wasatch Boulevard. I feel the need to defer to those who live in that area with regards to those plans.
Finally we have the gondola. The original gondola plan (alternative A) had a base station starting at the Little Cottonwood Park and Ride Lot. This one, announced a couple of years ago, begins at La Caille. Per the fact sheet below, the gondola capital costs appear to be estimated at $370.5 million (the $729 million is for the entire alternative, although who knows where these numbers will end up). From the gondola base it will take 27 minutes to travel from La Caille to Snowbird and an additional 10 minutes to get to Alta. A structure with 2500 parking spaces would be built at the base.
Incredibly, there are no plans for loading or unloading at the angle staton. If this gondola were built, that strikes me as a major oversight as there would be enormous potential for this angle station to serve as a recreational access point if some trail construction is done to link with the Red Pine Lake trail on the Pink Pine Ridge. It would also enable point-to-point hikes in the lower canyon and between the angle station and Snowbird.
Once built, bus service up Little Cottonwood would be terminated. There would be no public transit options to access anything below Snowbird.
I didn't see a timeline for Phase 2 or 3 in UDOTs documents, but I could have missed it. Without funding, it's probably difficult to firm that up anyway. The Salt Lake Tribune suggested that the Wasatch Front Regional Council estimated that the gondola might not be complete until 2043–2050. Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson suggested 25 years. Insert your guess here.
I am personally opposed to the gondola. My views on this are complex and multifaceted. I would say that the majority of my friends are either opposed or skeptical, but there are some who are supportive. I suspect we are looking at many years of debate and lawsuits. Built or not built, I don't see this ending well. More people are moving here and the demand to ski in upper-elevation north-facing terrain is only going to increase as climate change impacts the lower-elevation snow climate more severely.
You've lived and skied here for decades, understand the safety concerns, bottlenecks, etc. What are some of your thoughts on an idealized solution?
ReplyDeleteIn the short term, I do hope to see the level of bus service reinstated to 21/22 winter standards. Being able to walk from my house to Fort Union and have a seat on a bus up either canyon was incredible. No reason to drive. This past winter was different, with the route up little canceled and each bus up big being a sardine can. Standing on a bus wearing ski boots for 1-2 hours each way is sure to test your character. And I don't intend to declare corruption here, but factually, for those wanting the gondola to pass, I believe it was favorable to have the bus services slashed the same year the gondola was being decided on.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I think covid really blew outdoor recreation out of the water, perhaps 10 fold. Surely the number of people recreating will continue to rise regardless, but it's been my observation that we've seen an especially large jump in the past few years. Selfishly, I hope this is somewhat temporary.
Utah resorts reported 7.1 million skier visits last season. That beat the old record (2021/22) of 5.8 million by 22%. I can remember seasons with less than 5 million skier visits. So yes, we have seen a huge increase in a couple of years. I suspect that is due to multiple factors (pandemic, IKON, EPIC, increasing population, etc.).
DeleteThe bus situation last season was deplorable. UDOTs Phase 1 won't take effect until 25/26, so we have to get through two seasons. Let's hope UTA at least can restore what we had before last season. Whether or not Phase 1 makes a significant dent will depend a lot on what they do with other bus lines. If they cancel the ones that currently exist and just shift everything to the modal hub every 15 minutes, I'm not sure that's much better than what we had a couple of years ago other than there's more parking and a bit better access.
In the long run, I'm not optimistic even if the gondola is built. There are simply too much growth and too many people wanting to ski. Induced demand is real. Build it and they will come. If tolls are draconian, there will simply be gridlock and lines for the parking lots and gondola. If they are low, we'll just have powder panic on both the road and for the gondola.
A reservation system with quotas to ski for the day is probably the only thing that would keep things manageable.
Of course none of this does anything for BCC or the Wasatch Back. Both have pretty serious traffic problems too. We'll see some adaptation as things are rolled out, I suspect with unintended and unanticipated consequences for traffic flows around the Cottonwoods and in other areas.
I am having a hard time understanding the shutting down of bus service once the gondola is operating: 1) estimated cost of gondy ride $25-35 replacing a bus fare? 2) 2500 parking spaces is laughable if UDOT actually thinks this will even put a dent in the traffic 3) the Backcountry user blind spots are absolutely infuriating. PLUS the fact Ut Taxpayers are footing the bill for the gondola benefitting only 2 resorts since no other usage is being considered is honestly appalling.
ReplyDeletePhase 3 and the gondola is ridiculous and hopefully never happens! A majority of the public (tax payers) have spoken out again and again against the gondola in their comments to UDOT but they are never considered. UDOT and those involved had their minds made up from the beginning and are just going through the motions to make the public feel involved when the never were.
ReplyDeleteI think the best option is to expand Little (and Big at this point) to three total lanes of travel, use two up from 1am to noon and two down from 1pm to midnight. The second lane of travel to be used by buses, car pool, and tolling just like I-15 does now using the same equipment and tolling devices some people already have in their cars. Install snow sheds in the most prone avalanche paths.
Utah kind of deserves this. You don’t get to use the slogan “Greatest Snow on Earth” without some negative consequences.
ReplyDeleteI am unable to understand how the gondola makes any sense until I consider the need for a secondary egress for Olympic events in LCC. Why no conversation about BCC? Because Brighton and Solitude know they aren't going to be competing with altabird to host downhill.
ReplyDeleteIMO, this entire process is identical to what has been happening with NFL stadiums over the last 20 years. Vast public expenditures to benefit what are ultimately the business interests of a few very powerful, connected wealthy franchise and land owners. Trouble with this project is its not poor brown people in the way, its some of the wealthiest people in the state. 50 50 this thing ever gets built in my opinion.
We have a "too many people at Alta/SB problem" as much as a transportation problem. The poor transportation system is the only check to even longer and longer lift lines. Unless and until the resorts commit to a reasonable daily skier cap, no public money should be spent to further degrade the public experience of recreating on public land. Why aren't we talking about spend the $700M on developing a few new resorts outside of the cottonwoods? Sure it isn't as ideal terrain or snow, but with modern snowmaking we could come up with plenty of viable alternatives. Utah county needs to start pulling their resort weight, and let's get with Rio Tinto to open up the Oquirrhs.
ReplyDeleteThe fatal flaw with the gondola is there is no way to evacuate 900 people in adverse weather conditions or in event of a mechanical breakdown. No gondola operator is going to run the thing in extreme avalanche or weather conditions. Helicopters are of no use if the weather is bad. Rescue from the ground seems almost impossible, even if safe access below were possible.
ReplyDeleteThey should not be licensed to operate until they can demonstrate how to evacuate the cabins...all of them in a short time period. I'd like to see the insurance policy that would cover a mass fatality event. I'm sure the proponents will have a glib answer.
This is a great point that I don't think I've seen publicized enough- thanks for bringing it up
DeleteI want to be able to take the bus up to ski White/Red Pine. If there’s no stop at the trailhead, then a new, non-roadside connecting trail from the new UDOT-funded Creekside transit terminal (@entry 1) would be sufficient for me. Not ideal, but not too bad (yay, more exercise!) as long as Snowbird and the USFS don’t restrict access. I want the bus system to be very successful and making this kind of compromise could help.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the situation for accessing white pine is really awful. I think I skied there once last season. We were fortunate to have good skiing outside of the Mill Creek/Cottonwoods. In future years, we won't be so lucky.
DeleteAfter skiing yesterday, my buddy and I were crunching the numbers for the gondola. It moves 1050 people an hour, equivalent to what a fixed double chairlift does! A quad detachable would move three times the people, stop at multiple unloads, and be a lot cheaper. The gondola fails in every department!
ReplyDeleteI wonder about that number of 1050. The Stubai Glacier 3S gondola has an uphill capacity of 3000 per hour. So, unless there is something about the design of the LCC one that is different, such as greater spacing between cabins for some reason, I'm not sure why it is so low.
DeleteIf this gondola is ever built, you would hope that it would be able to move 3000 an hour. Otherwise it will have little chance of success.