New bridges to the Jordan River close the last major gaps in Parley's Trail 

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• Benjamin Wood
• A cyclist passes through the interstate Spaghetti Bowl near 2100 South on the recently-completed Parley's Trail.

WEST VALLEY—One of the most glaring gaps in the state's emerging trail network was officially closed on Thursday, with the ribbon-cutting of a pair of cycling and pedestrian bridges installed over 900 West and the Jordan River, just south of the 201 Highway.

The bridges mark the formal completion of Parley's Trail, a popular east-west route for active transportation running from the mouth of Parley's Canyon and alongside the S-Line Streetcar to, now, the Jordan River Parkway and its sprawling network of connected paths. While long in development at the county level, the Parley's/JRP junction has only grown in importance with its opportune proximity to light rail transit services and with a recent state-level effort to better integrate municipal walking and cycling corridors in Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Tooele and Summit Counties.

"This is a key piece to what could be a much bigger, more incredible project," said Juan Arce-Larreta, chairman of the advocacy group Parley's Rails Trails and Tunnels, or PRATT (a play on the trail's namesake, Latter-day Saint pioneer Parley P. Pratt).

Arce-Larreta said organizers would continue to seek and push for improvements to the trail, with next-stage amenities like benches, bike maintenance stands and dog water/waste stations expected now that construction is completed.

"The work’s not quite done," he said. "PRATT’s going to be here to continue to work with our partners to make the trail all it can be and as beautiful as it can be."

One challenge to that beautification will be the imposing fences that fully box-in the new segment of trail. And despite the Jordan River being an active cycling and pedestrian space for years without major incident, the area to the immediate south of the new bridges—alongside Redwood Trailhead Park—has also been lined with hostile fencing that largely cuts the park off from the river.

City Weekly is pursuing additional information on those changes, but so far has been told only that it was a decision made by flood-control agencies. Also unclear is how chain-link fencing helps in the event of high water levels, beyond imposing a barrier on people who are otherwise permitted to access both sides of that fence.

And while Thursday's ribbon cutting emphasized that Parley's Trail is, technically, completed, a number of stressful pinch points remain, particularly in South Salt Lake City where—among other issues—the trail vanishes for a full block between State Street and Main Street. That seemingly dead end in the trail comes despite the availability of a low-traffic surface street striped with multiple travel lanes for cars—one of which is partially consumed by parking—but no bike lane.

A skinny, dilapidated patch of asphalt serves as the "official" trail through that block, but it is located out of sight on the wrong side of the street, expecting trail users to make two unnecessary and out-of-the-way lateral crossings over an active rail line. Virtually every cyclist attempting to travel through this area will either opt to ride in the north sidewalk (raising the potential for conflict with pedestrians) or will drop into the unprotected street lanes to proceed forward, forcing them to tangle with oncoming traffic or, until recently, a hard curb placed directly in the clearest path of travel.

Asked why these unsafe conditions have persisted for years, South Salt Lake City Mayor Cherie Wood pointed to the jurisdictional challenges that surround Utah Transit Authority and Utah Department of Transportation rights of way—which are as legitimate as they are legion in her city—and suggested protected bike lanes could one day be installed along some segments of trail. But she also appeared to confuse the Central Pointe Trax Station with the Central Pointe Place surface street that her city controls and, when clarified, alluded only to mobility plans in the early stages of an update and the potential for private development on the south side of the street to incorporate trail improvements.

But going the private development route would lock-in the circuitous detour described above, ostensibly sending cyclists back and forth over train tracks to avoid reducing space for private vehicles, but in reality sending cyclists into unprotected lanes and sidewalks.

"We should see improvements within a year," Wood said.

During her remarks at Thursday's ribbon-cutting, Wood described Parley's Trail as a not-so-secret "little gem" that she uses during breaks in her workday or during her annual "Bike With The Mayor" events. She also noted that the opening date for the new bridges corresponds with her city's 85th anniversary.

"I can’t think of a better birthday present for our city than connecting us to our West Valley City partner," she said, "and also completing a super important trail in our community."