IN THIS ISSUE

• Wasatch Choice Vision Case Study: Roy City
• Public Comment Open: Draft 2023-2028 Comprehensive Economic Development Plan
• Map of the Month: Wasatch Choice Parks & Public Spaces Map
• Government Affairs Update 
• Breakfast Briefing: Making Space for Both Wheels and Feet
• October Newsmaker Breakfast: “Growth in Utah: What’s the Plan?”
• Join us at the Utah Transportation Conference
• GOPB Launches New Funding Opportunity Portal



Wasatch Choice Vision Case Study: Roy City

Roy’s rich history dates back to the late 1800s when it was founded as a farming community. Over the years, the city has grown and developed into a close-knit residential community that offers residents a suburban lifestyle with easy access to urban amenities. Roy is located in Weber County just a few miles southwest of Ogden. It is conveniently located near the junction of Interstate 15 and Interstate 84, UTA’s FrontRunner, and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Rail Trail. Together these connections provide residents with easy access to other parts of the region and state. Roy boasts a variety of recreational opportunities, including a wide range of parks as well as hiking and biking trails. Additionally, the city is home to a large, new Northrup Gruman campus, bringing 4,000 jobs which continues to strengthen the communities ties with Hill Air Force Base.

• New growth and development in Downtown Roy and Roy FrontRunner Station: Two “centers” focus on creating regional destinations with mixed-use development with housing as well as retail, dining, and entertainment amenities. In August of 2023, WFRC certified Roy’s Frontrunner Station Area Plan (SAP) as a result of collaboration amongst our partners, $80,000 in SAP technical assistance, as well as two Transportation and Land Use Connection (TLC) program projects (the 2016 Roy City Redevelopment Livability Study and 2018 General Plan and Zoning Update).
• Strengthen bike and pedestrian connections with Three Gate Trail System: Plans are underway for a bike and pedestrian trail that will link three western gates of the Hill Air Force Base with other trail systems and communities using the old Union Pacific Railroad line.

Click here to learn more about projects Roy City is working on that align with the Wasatch Choice Vision. And visit wasatchchoice.org for complete information about the Wasatch Choice Vision.

Public Comment Open: Draft 2023-2028 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

The Wasatch Front Regional Council and the Wasatch Front Economic Development District presented a draft of the 2023-2028 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the Wasatch Front Region. The purpose of the CEDS is to have a regionally owned planning process to build capacity and guide economic prosperity and resiliency in the region. An electronic version of the CEDS can be found at https://bit.ly/draftCEDS. Comments will be accepted from September 21, 2023 until October 20, 2023. Comments can be submitted through this form, by mail, or emailed to: Marcia White, Economic Development Planner, WFRC, 41 N. Rio Grande St, Suite 103, Salt Lake City, UT 84101, mwhite@wfrc.org.

Wasatch Choice Vision Parks & Public Spaces Map

Parks and Public Spaces is a key strategy of the Wasatch Choice Vision for a thriving region and communities.

This month, we are featuring the Parks & Public Spaces map 'tab' within the Wasatch Choice Vision interactive map which features parks and other public open spaces, trailheads, and potential greenway corridors. It also includes existing and planned paved multiuse pathways and other protected bikeways and bike lanes. Additionally, the map shows the locations of Wasatch Choice Centers, schools, and local recreation centers.

Use the information in the Parks & Public Spaces map to explore the availability of open space across the region and, also, how well the current and future ‘active transportation’ system connects users in your community to basic needs and amenities. See something missing that needs additional consideration? We're happy to collect feedback and get it to where it needs to go.

STATE & LOCAL

September Legislative Interim

The legislature held their interim meetings and their statutorily required long-range planning conference this month in St. George. Notable in the Transportation Interim Committee meeting was a presentation on the plans for the Utah Trail Network, an overview and recommendations for canal trails, plans for the strategic doubletracking of FrontRunner, and the Statewide Transportation Electrification Initiative. WFRC was invited to present to the Legislature during the planning conference, along with our partners, about Utah’s growth challenges and opportunities in transportation. 

Unified Economic Opportunity Commission

The UEOC met on August 30th to receive the first round of preliminary recommendations from its various working groups, including Growth & Transportation (G&T) that WFRC has been heavily involved in. You can find those recommendations HERE. The UEOC will meet again on October 18th to further consider policy proposals and finalize recommendations to the Governor and Legislature. This is anticipated to be the last UEOC meeting of the year.

FEDERAL

Looming Government Shutdown

As the Federal Government’s current fiscal year ends this Saturday on September 30th at midnight, Congress is racing against the clock to divert a potential government shutdown. If Congress does not come to an agreement on spending (either to temporarily extend the current fiscal year spending levels through a continuing resolution or “CR” or by passing all twelve of the FY24 Appropriations bills) by this Saturday, the government will shut down on October 1st.

Though government shutdowns have historically only lasted a few days up to a few weeks, it can cost the federal government billions of dollars to shut down and then reopen, furloughing hundreds of thousands of “non-essential” federal employees and disrupting federal program operations (like National Park services). One bright spot, however, is that many federal transportation programs (including FHWA highway programs, some federal transit programs, and some IIJA programs) are funded through the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), rather than through the annual appropriations process. As a result, these programs won’t be immediately impacted by a government shutdown. 

The WFRC Team is keeping a close watch on this issue.

Upcoming Changes to Utah’s Congressional Delegation

Earlier this month, Representative Stewart left the halls of Congress after announcing his retirement earlier in the year due to familial obligations, requiring a special congressional election in which Celeste Maloy won the Republican primary for Utah’s 2nd District. Celeste will face Democratic state Sen. Kathleen Riebe and a handful of third-party candidates in November. 

Additionally, Senator Mitt Romney announced that he will not seek another term in the Senate. Currently, both Mayor Trent Staggs of Riverton and Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, Brad Wilson have announced their candidacy for the seat. Wilson also stated that he will step down from the Legislature on November 15th. Notably, Congressman John Curtis has indicated that he is seriously considering a run. We will likely see several other candidates join this race, making it a potentially crowded GOP primary field. 

Federal Funding Opportunities

• Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program
• Pilot TOD Planning Program
• Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Program



Utahns are concerned about getting around. The Utah Foundation's 2022 Quality of Life project includes two transportation policy solutions to help increase Utahns' quality of life:

• Investing in the built environment and enhancing land use policies to promote streetscapes that are pedestrian friendly and include key amenities.
• Investing in transportation and transit infrastructure to reduce traffic and improve the quality of roads and highways.

Join the Utah Foundation for a light breakfast and a robust discussion on Tuesday, October 10 at 8:30 AM, sponsored by HNTB and UTA. Speakers will discuss the following questions:

• Why are trails, complete streets, first/last mile transit access, and active-transportation connectivity important to quality of life?
• How do we plan and create these amenities?
• How can local communities best partner with the state and federal government – including accessing available funding – to advance these goals?

The panelists for this important event are:

• Dina Blaes, Director, Office of Regional Development at Salt Lake County
• Michelle Carroll, Executive Director of Mountainland Association of Governments
• Charles Small, West Region Government Affairs Officer and Vice President at HNTB, and former U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Assistant Secretary – Intergovernmental Affairs
• Josh Van Jura, Director, Trails and Transit Group at the Utah Department of Transportation

Andrew Gruber, Utah Foundation Trustee and Executive Director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, will moderate the discussion. We’ll also hear from Utah Foundation Trustee and HNTB Vice President Dominic Spaethling.



Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Thomas S. Monson Center

411 East South Temple

Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Panelists include:

Laura Hanson

State Planning Coordinator

Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget

Ari Bruening

Chief Executive Officer

Envision Utah

Andrew Gruber

Executive Director

Wasatch Front Regional Council

Please RSVP to gardnerinstitute@eccles.utah.edu as space is limited.

Over the past decade, Utah was the fastest growing state in the nation, and that growth continues – Utah is projected to reach five million people by 2050. Envision Utah’s recent Values Study highlighted that for the first time in 20 years more Utahns feel negative about the impacts of growth rather than positive. Utah is growing because it is a great place to live, but our future life quality depends on the choices we make today.  

A statewide conversation called Guiding our Growth was launched this year to engage Utahns in exploring how we can keep Utah a great place for our families and communities as we grow. Results of this conversation will be shared. 

The second key element to addressing our growth challenges is to plan to effectively accommodate growth. Along the Wasatch Front, the newly refreshed Wasatch Choice Vision outlines a plan for coordinating transportation investments, development patterns, and economic opportunities, and serves as a blueprint for growth over the next 30 years.

Be a part of this important conversation to learn about and engage in these shared efforts to maintain life quality in Utah for generations to come. The conversation will be moderated by Gardner Institute Director Natalie Gochnour.



Join us at the Utah Transportation Conference October 24-26

Click here to learn more and to register.

GOPB Launches New Funding Opportunities Portal

We are excited to share that the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) has released a Funding Opportunities Portal that aggregates state and selected federal funding opportunities into a centralized and easily searchable database. This project is in response to frequent requests for a unified tool that consolidates funding data into a single database. Learn more about the portal here.