“You’re not going to get anything different in the gondola. There will still be crowds. He said people will still have to stand up, and cabins will still be crowded.”-Mike Marker, Board Member for Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Last week, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) announced that they had unsurprisingly selected Gondola Alternative B as their preferred alternative to solve Little Cottonwood Canyon’s traffic problems. The response from many has been a significant disappointment.
KSL reported on the viewpoints of Save Our Canyons, Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon, and the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, who are opposed to the project. They would rather see changes like tolling, better traction law enforcement, and increased bus service.
Mike Marker, who is a board member for the Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon, has a variety of issues with the gondola plan.
One of the reasons is the cost to the taxpayers:
“It’s so inconsistent with the conservative fiscal Utah values to spend that kind of money to benefit two private ski areas and a handful of land developers.”
It should be noted that since this KSL article was released, Dave Fields, who is the President & General Manager of Snowbird, wrote an op-ed about the gondola for the Salt Lake Tribune. In this article, he states that Snowbird (owned by the POWDR Corp.) is “exploring ways to partner with UDOT to help pay for and maintain a new system.”
Now back to Mike’s concerns. He also has an issue with the projected cost, as he believes the price will be much higher:
“Somebody’s playing fast and loose with these numbers, let’s be clear about that … (it’s) kind of like they’re saying ‘well it’s going to cost us X amount of money to buy a car, but they’re leaving out the price of the wheels, maybe the sound system, the air conditioning, and you’re just paying for the motor.’”
The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment oppose the project due to the blasting and drilling that will need to take place, which will likely contaminate the water. This water flows into the Salt Lake Valley, and eventually into the Great Salt Lake. They believe that “with water becoming an increasingly vital and scarce resource, we need to be more diligent to safeguard the LCC watershed and protect our limited water supply.”
Save Our Canyons also has a variety of concerns with the project. One of them includes the worry that traffic around the base terminal of the gondola will create a frustrating situation. For backcountry skiers and snowshoers, it will make the already frustrating experience more unreliable.
Mike Marker summed up the feelings of many who oppose the project:
“As a group of local residents who have long enjoyed the natural beauty of Little Cottonwood Canyon, (they) believe the canyon should be protected from expansive development and overuse for future generations.”
Image Credits: Gondola Works
