The Summit County Council had to decide not on a policy Wednesday, but aesthetics. They decided on a "mountain motif" for a future pedestrian bridge over state Route 224 in Kimball Junction.
The county is working with the Utah Department of Transportation on the bridge, which will be between Ute Boulevard and Olympic Parkway.
It will link the Altus Park City development, formerly known as Dakota Pacific, to businesses on the east side of Kimball.
Choosing between three designs, the county council decided on one with a pair of long, triangular arches resembling mountain peaks. When Summit County staff surveyed residents, that’s the one they chose too.
“To me, it’s like: Do we want round, or we do we want angles?” UDOT project manager Becky Stromness said during the discussion.
Another option with more traditional curved arches was more popular with people who say they live or work in Kimball Junction every day.
“I kind of relate to that understanding, like if you weren’t there all the time, you might like the dramatic effect of the mountain shape. But if you're there all the time, you might like that it blends,” Councilmember Canice Harte said.
Councilmembers asked for more muted colors for an understated mountain silhouette. The Summit County Public Art Advisory Board made similar recommendations the week before.
Now that the design is selected, county staff say they’ll work with the arts board to beautify the end result.
It’s estimated to cost between $15 million and $20 million. UDOT and Summit County will decide how to split the cost in November, says county transportation planner Carl Miller.
The county said it secured a $1 million federal grant for the bridge in March.
As part of UDOT’s separate road improvement project in Kimball Junction, the current crosswalks at Ute and Olympic will be going away.
Stromness says that, in addition to safety, a pedestrian bridge will help cars flow through the area more efficiently.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.
