Salt Lake City is nearing the completion of the Westpointe and Jordan Meadows Neighborhood Byway, while a separate project connecting Westminster to Sunnyside remains in the civil engineering design phase. The city expects to finish construction on two enhanced crosswalks at 1700 North and Morton Drive, as well as 1700 North and Fernleaf Street, later this summer.
Westpointe and Jordan Meadows Progress
The Westpointe and Jordan Meadows Neighborhood Byway is designed to link the two neighborhoods, providing access to parks, schools, and destinations such as the Jordan River Trail, the Regional Athletic Complex, and the State of Utah employment center. The project has moved through several stages since its preliminary designs were announced in the spring of 2024. Following the gathering of public feedback, a final design was established in the fall of 2024, and construction began during the summer of 2025.
Design Features and Traffic Calming
According to the City of Salt Lake City, the Westpointe and Jordan Meadows route is part of a broader effort to build a network of people-friendly streets that facilitate active transportation. These byways are characterized by quiet residential streets with low to modest vehicle traffic speeds and volumes. While vehicles are permitted on these routes, the streets are improved for walking, biking, and rolling through shared space rather than the addition of painted bike lanes.
Community Feedback and Design Evolution
To improve safety, the city utilizes various traffic calming measures. These include speed cushions, which feature cutouts that allow emergency vehicles, garbage trucks, and snow plows to pass through at normal speeds while slowing passenger cars. Other potential improvements considered during the planning process include traffic circles, chicanes, curb extensions—also known as bulb-outs—to shorten crossing distances, and wayfinding signs. The city also utilizes 'daylighting' to improve visibility at intersections, which may involve temporary parking restrictions within 30 feet of a crosswalk or stop sign.
Westminster to Sunnyside Status
The Westminster to Sunnyside Neighborhood Byway is currently undergoing civil engineering design as of April 2026. Unlike the Westpointe project, construction funding for this route has not yet been secured, and no construction timeline has been set. The project began with a kickoff in the summer of 2022 and involved gathering initial pre-design feedback between the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023.
Route Selection and Alternatives
The proposed Westminster to Sunnyside route runs from Westminster University to Sunnyside Avenue near Sunnyside Park. This route is intended to connect several key areas, including the bike lanes on 1700 South and 1300 East, the new Kensington Avenue Byway, and 900 South, which becomes the 9-Line Trail to the west. The route also provides access to Sunnyside Avenue’s shared-use path, which leads to The University of Utah and Emigration Canyon, connecting Sugar House to the Wasatch Hollow, Yalecrest, and Foothill neighborhoods.
Public Input and Concerns
The city previously considered 1500 East and 1800 East as potential routes for a north-south active transportation corridor. However, 1500 East was excluded due to higher traffic volumes, while 1700 East was selected to support the goal of spacing north-south active transportation routes every quarter mile along corridors like 1300, 1500, 1700, and 1900 East. The city noted that using 1800 East would have required adding a new stop sign on 1300 South, which could have created delays for drivers due to moderate traffic.
Project Summary
Public engagement for the Westminster to Sunnyside project occurred in two phases. The first phase in the fall of 2022 focused on identifying existing issues, such as speeding vehicles and limited safe crosswalks. The second phase in early 2025 involved reviewing draft designs with the community. While there has been strong support for safety measures like bulb-outs and raised crossings, resident opinions on speed cushions were divided, with some neighbors expressing concerns about potential traffic shifts to nearby streets, parking congestion, and the visual impact of traffic signage.
