The Blueprint Jordan River has been refreshed after ten years have passed since the initial visioning effort. The updated blueprint provides a comprehensive and action-oriented vision for Utah's longest urban parkway, designed to address new and emerging challenges and opportunities.
Envision Utah worked with local experts to develop an action plan featuring hundreds of targeted strategies. These strategies aim to meet eighteen priority goals across seven different topics.
The updated blueprint follows extensive public engagement conducted in 2020, which heard from over 8,000 residents across the Wasatch Front. The original 2008 effort was a partnership between Envision Utah, Salt Lake County, and other stakeholders to create a publicly supported vision for the entire Jordan River corridor.
Key ideas within the vision include the creation of a contiguous lake-to-lake blue-green trail to complete the 45-mile Jordan River Parkway trail. Other objectives involve removing obstacles to boating, preserving open space through a 20-mile linear nature preserve, and creating regional and neighborhood river centers that may include housing, restaurants, and shops.
The Jordan River Commission (JRC) was formed as a significant result of the original blueprint. As a nonprofit, the JRC supports implementation work alongside municipalities and community organizations, and is responsible for periodically updating the blueprint.
Funding for this project was made possible by the Transportation and Land Use Connection (TLC) program. Additional contributions were provided by the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, Rocky Mountain Power, The Nature Conservancy, The University of Utah, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Utah Division of Water Quality, and Utah's Hogle Zoo.
