Environmental Impact

• Little Cottonwood Canyon is home to an essential watershed that provides local cities, like Sandy and Salt Lake City, with a large percentage of their culinary drinking water. The construction of the world’s longest gondola, over 8 miles long, consisting of 20 towers and 2 angle stations, puts that vital water at serious risk of contamination.

• The risk of contamination is so high that Salt Lake City, Sandy City and their joint Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City and Sandy filed a lawsuit against UDOT, arguing that environmental analysis done for the gondola option were insufficient to safeguard the drinking water supply.

• Little Cottonwood Canyon’s soil contains contaminants from extensive mining activity in the1800s, including lead and arsenic. These contaminants would likely be disturbed by the construction of a gondola, which would involve digging, blasting, and land disruption, putting an enormous amount of drinking water at risk for residents and businesses. This contamination could last for decades.

• The gondola would not solve congestion in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and it was never designed to. According to UDOT’s own EIS, if a gondola were constructed, cars visiting Alta and Snowbird would remain the same, while skier visits would increase by roughly 20%. The gondola is designed to increase visitation to two private ski resorts and would greatly increase the environmental pressures on the canyon and diminish the user experience from overcrowding.

• The impact on the viewscape from 200+ foot towers, and bus sized cable cars stretching eight miles through the heart of Little Cottonwood Canyon would be permanent and pervasive.

 

The Cost for Utah Taxpayers

• The most current estimate for the phased gondola project is $1.4 billion (up from the initial estimated cost of $550 million) and will be paid for by Utah tax payers to the tune of roughly $1,000 per household. Only 10% of Utahans downhill ski yearly on average, which leaves 9 out of 10 Utah taxpayers footing the outlandish bill while receiving no benefit. In fact, the majority of skiers accessing Alta and Snowbird come from out of state, making this a $1,000 tax placed on every household in Utah that disproportionately benefits affluent tourists, and two thriving, private businesses. 

• In reality, most Utahans will never ski Alta or Snowbird, but they all see the crumbling infrastructure throughout the state and the needs of the communities they call home. Building the gondola would divert transportation funding away from higher priority transportation projects in Utah, ignoring the needs of the people statewide. It’s morally and ethically unjustifiable.

• Common sense solutions are a fraction of the cost, scalable, and effective. UDOT did not consider and test these less expensive alternatives before allocating additional taxpayer dollars and greenlighting the Gondola.

 

Inconsistent Approaches from UDOT

As it has done with Little Cottonwood Canyon, UDOT is considering an approach to alleviate congestion in neighboring Big Cottonwood Canyon. The difference in solutions, however, is jarring. UDOT believes that congestion in Big Cottonwood Canyon can be righted by an enhanced bus service, enclosed bus stops at the resorts, minor road improvements to help the bus system, and a winter-season tolling system starting below Solitude Entry 1 with variable pricing. The estimated expenditure to address the congestion issues in Big Cottonwood Canyon is about $90 million.

 

A Deeply Unpopular Solution

It is no secret that the gondola is not a popular solution to congestion in Little Cottonwood Canyon. We know from the record-breaking 50,000 comments sent to the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) during the public comment period that citizens are overwhelmingly opposed to the construction of a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Roughly 8 out of 10 Utahans who submitted comments opposed the construction of a gondola.

Elected officials of impacted cities also oppose the gondola, with Mayor Jenny Wilson, Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Mayor Monica Zoltanski, and Mayor Roger Bourke all on the record opposing its construction. As mentioned above, both Salt Lake City and Sandy also filed lawsuits to prevent the gondola’s construction.  

 

The Gondola Only Serves Two Private Ski Resorts

The Gondola will only stop at Snowbird and Alta, serving only those who paid to access a private ski area. This ignores the growing population of hikers, mountain bikers, backcountry skiers, photographers, and other canyon visitors. Depending on cost-feasibility and adoption, it may not run in the summer at all.

 

Commonsense Solutions We Support

Friends of Alta continues to support common sense, scalable, solutions that can be implemented quickly, at a significantly lower cost. These include:

Restoring historic UTA routes- This past winter, UTA only ran 23 buses a day up the canyon, a stark contrast to its peak when 87 buses would run daily. It’s hard to believe that tourists once had the convenience of flying into Salt Lake City International Airport and taking public transit straight to the ski resorts—no need to rent a car at all.

As demand increases, it is imperative that we enhance our transit services by increasing the number of buses and implementing express routes to both Alta and Snowbird. This will not only elevate ridership levels but also streamline the transit experience by minimizing stops at each resort’s parking areas. The result will be a more seamless and efficient journey for passengers. Additionally, investing in new electric buses during peak demand periods will significantly improve air quality and promote sustainable transportation practices.

Enforce the Existing Traction Laws/Pass a New Traction Law- Legislation should mandate that all vehicles on mountainous highways from November to April either have traction devices readily available or installed. This requirement ensures that when severe winter weather strikes, even unexpectedly, vehicles are properly equipped to handle tough driving conditions. This could help prevent dangerous situations and reduce congestion in the canyons. Additionally, issuing pre-approved stickers for vehicles that meet these criteria streamline enforcement and minimizes traffic delays.

Incentivize Carpooling- To encourage carpooling, incentivize vehicles carrying multiple passengers. Such incentives may include designated parking spaces, priority reservations, and reductions in toll and parking fees.

Prevent Unsafe U-turns: U-turns from roadside parking areas should be prohibited to enhance safety and facilitate smoother traffic flow. Drivers who park along the road should continue uphill until they can turn into a designated parking area before making their way downhill. Installing median devices may be essential to promote this traffic pattern. To ensure compliance, clear signage should be put up, and officers should be present to enforce these regulations.

Improve Merging: To enhance traffic flow and safety at ski resorts, it’s essential to manage the vehicles leaving parking lots onto SR210. This will help alleviate congestion on SR210 above the parking lot as traffic ascends the canyon. Installing a traffic light could effectively regulate the movement of cars during peak hours when many vehicles exit from the top of the canyon.

Build Up-Canyon Snowplow Parking: Create new parking spaces up-canyon for UDOT snowplows. This change would allow them to begin snow removal more quickly, rather than having to travel from the valley to the canyon.

Augment with Private Shuttle: By partnering with private operators to provide shuttles and drivers specifically during high-demand days—approximately 30 to 40 days each year—UTA can effectively minimize its fleet size, which in turn reduces bus maintenance expenses. Additionally, utilizing smaller 14-seat shuttles can further cut costs while enhancing the quality of service.

Implement Permit Parking Programs: Implementing reserved permit parking during peak hours helps ensure available parking spaces and decreases roadway congestion, a trend observed at three out of the four Cottonwood Canyon resorts utilizing this system. It would be beneficial for Snowbird to adopt a similar permit and reservation approach during busy periods.

Stagger Operating Hours for Ski Resorts: Currently, Alta and Snowbird Ski Resorts operate on similar schedules, which leads to congestion during peak arrival and departure times for skiers. To alleviate this issue, the resorts might explore the option of staggering their hours. For instance, Alta could consider opening earlier at 8 AM and closing at 4 PM, while Snowbird could open at 9 AM and close at 5 PM. This adjustment could help to smooth out the flow of visitors.

Incentivize High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV): HOVs with a minimum of eight passengers could receive incentives by being granted priority access to the highway during specific peak periods or hours.