Unfinished trail parcels now getting attention

A trail running the length of the Jordan River has been in the works for about a quarter of a century. And as it inches closer to completion, planners are itching to attack the remaining problem spots — if they can just get the money and some public input.

Deseret Morning News graphic Jordan River Parkway Requires Adobe Acrobat.

The Jordan River Natural Areas Forum has been working on a prioritization plan to tackle the nine chunks of trail in Salt Lake County where, for one reason or another, trail users can't get from point A to point B. A series of public forums and input-gathering sessions in October, as well as work with environmental and planning experts, have led to the latest draft report suggesting how the trail can ultimately become finished.

If the Jordan River Natural Areas Forum can find the money.

"It will be a big issue," forum trail project chairman Jeff Williams said of the funding issue.

Before November's election, trail supporters hoped money would be available from the proposed Initiative 1, a statewide drive to create an open-space preservation fund. But Initiative 1 failed at the polls.

Williams said the draft report will be presented to the Salt Lake County Council of Governments on Feb. 3, and "then it's up to them to figure out where to go from there."

First, Williams said his group wants more public input.

The draft report is available online — www.governor.utah.gov/planning/jrnaf.htm and www.planning.utah.gov/jrnaftrail.htm — and the forum wants the public's response. Comments can also be submitted online or sent to Williams at jeff.williams@ut.usda.gov. Comments will be accepted until Friday.

The first two areas of priority in the forum's report are an unpaved section of trail between 3700 South and 3900 South and an area near the Salt Lake County-Utah County border where 400 feet of trail was washed out in fall 2003. Those two chunks received top priority because they were seen as the easiest to fix. The report says each could be finished within a year if the trail completion project is started.

The stickiest section of trail is a nearly mile-long area between 8600 South and 9000 South where land ownership and right of wayissues with nearby land owners — Utah Power and the Fur Breeders Agricultural Co-op — could hold up the project for years to come.