Salt Lake City is studying a $5 billion plan to reconnect the east and west sides
Hits & Misses
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Wrong Side of the Tracks
Salt Lake City is really two cities, a fact not lost on the City Council. The council recently decided to increase incentives to bring more density to the city—read: the east side. But that's a story for another time. Density is less the problem than alienation. The west side of Salt Lake has long been cut off from access and basic services. The late Mayor Deedee Corradini tried to solve some of the problem when she helped fund Salt Lake's first Trax light rail line and lobbied to relocate the Union Pacific Railroad tracks dividing the city. It wasn't enough. The west side still suffers as a "food desert" and destination pariah. Now there is a plan to bury the rail lines in a massive tunnel at a cost upward of $5 billion. "When we're done, we can be one city again, one city around the Rio Grande," civil engineer Christian Lenhart told a crowd in the Granary District, KSL reports. It would open green space and help solve the pollution issue, too. Sure it will cost, but the downside is to kick the problem down the road blocked by long, lumbering trains.
People, Places, Things
Not that we want to be selecting The Salt Lake Tribune's Utahn of the Year for them, but let's weigh in anyway. The Trib posted a list of candidates selected by their editors and board members, and it's just a little odd. Many were either things or couples and groups involved in things. The rest were more or less evenly split among men and women, one of whom is drag queen Tara Lipsyncki—not to be overshadowed by another nominee (and thing) the "Southern Utah Drag Stars." The men are largely big names in religion or sports, although sexual abusers were among them. Abuser accusers earned two separate nominations. The women—except for two obvious politicians—are all athletes. So, it appears that things like the 9th & 9th Whale, the unsheltered population and even pelicans stand a good chance of being named Utah Thing of the Year.
Not a Drop to Drink
For a moment, let's focus on the Colorado River instead of the Great Salt Lake. The river provides water for some 40 million people, and the fact that it's drying up leaves Utah with less and less. As the annual meeting of the Colorado River Water Users Association sought to find compromise before 2026, commissioners acknowledged that it won't be easy. Meanwhile, the Biden administration will divert $295 million in water infrastructure funds to California, and California will agree to conserve 643,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead, a Salt Lake Tribune story said. Of course, California takes more water than any other state while it, Arizona and Nevada agree to cut water use. Utah has no mandates yet, except from climate change itself. A major concern is the drying up of federal funds for "compensated conservation." There's an understanding that there's a slow drip toward disaster, but the solutions are more like band-aids than surgery.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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