The Utah Department of Transportation is pausing planning or designing any changes to the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail.
“There are a lot of moving pieces and analyzes happening in this area, so the [UDOT] study team just wants to take a brief pause,” UDOT Region 2 Planning Manager Geoff Dupaix told the Summit and Wasatch county councils at a joint meeting Sept. 17.
Future development is one of the moving pieces, and Dupaix said the state transportation agency is in conversations with nearby developers.
He also said UDOT is coordinating with Park City Municipal, which is engaged in its own transportation planning process called Recreate 248.
Ideas include adding high-speed busing or light rail beside state Route 248. The city briefly considered light rail next to the trail, but scrapped the idea last month.
Meanwhile, the state is considering including the rail trail in the wider Utah Trail Network, a UDOT initiative to connect the entire state with paved trails for transportation, not just recreation.
The UTN initiative is funding UDOT’s rail trail study. If the path becomes part of the network, Dupaix said UDOT would need to reroute the trail over or under state Route 248 because it’s a major road.
Another piece of the puzzle is the Old Highway 40 and Route 248 intersection itself, which Summit County recently shifted eastward to make way for a Maverik truck stop. The company previously said it would install a stoplight at the new intersection.
Another reason to wait on overpass designs, according to Dupaix, is for additional environmental analysis.
“We have to wait until next spring so that some of the existing plants or proposed plants could be in that area, can be identified and cataloged,” he said.
At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to resume mine tailings cleanup in the area.
Before releasing those details, the feds are waiting to confirm that the place they plan to send the soils is ready to receive them.
