Salt Lake City has a new vision for 500 West in fast-growing city section

SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 Utah's capital city has a new vision for how it plans to add more greenery to the fast-growing Granary District, while slowly chipping away at a grand vision for an unofficial "green loop."Salt Lake City unveiled a new concept for the "500 West Corridor Improvement and Connectivity Plan" on Thursday, which essentially merges nature and active transportation needs alongside 500 West, from 600 South to 900 South.It's similar to what's already available along the road from 600 South to nearly North Temple, including at The Gateway. Project officials believe it will offer better sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure and other "long-term needs of the street" for a former industrial area that's become much more residential over the past decade."Missing sidewalks, inadequate storm drains and failing asphalt are the reality on 500 West today. With dozens of local businesses here and nearly 3,000 housing units that have been completed, are under construction or are in the pipeline, we can't afford to delay these improvements any longer," said Blake Thomas, Salt Lake City's senior advisor on real estate and capital projects.The project has been on the city's radar for years, as part of the Green Loop that Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall pitched in 2023. The project called for a linear parkway surrounding downtown, which could add green space to a part of the city lacking it while also improving the biking and pedestrian experience and creating "safe, comfortable and attractive corridors," the mayor said.However, the city backpedaled on that earlier this year, effectively focusing on individual projects within the scope of the original vision rather than building a system all at once."This is iterative, block-by-block, major one-off projects," Thomas told KSL in January, adding that the city will view every block differently, but with the same overall goal of how it can improve downtown connectivity.Salt Lake City recently allocated new funds to help pay for construction documents for a "Civic Center" on the east end of the Green Loop. The project also could receive $3.1 million from a parks bond that Salt Lake County plans to add to the November ballot.The "500 West Corridor Improvement and Connectivity Plan" focuses on the southwest end of the original plan.The design released on Thursday shows more trees for shade alongside the three-block stretch of 900 South, which