Bear Lake Corridor Study

Anita Weston, reporter

Rich Civic Times 

GARDEN CITY, Utah. September 8, 2016.  Bob Peterson, Garden City Manager, told the city council that a Bear Lake Corridor Study has been completed by UDOT.  The report was prepared by Fehr & Peers and W. H. Lochner. 

The executive Summary notes: "The Bear Lake Corridor Study is an intermediate Level Corridor Study, for the US 89/SR-30 corridor through Garden City, Utah and adjacent to Bear Lake State Park.  The corridor serves key recreation destinations and experiences traffic congestion and safety issues during peak visitation periods.  The corridor also serves as part of a regional highway network, so solutions must balance local travel tourism, and inter-regional travel.

The study was carefully designed to execute planning efforts that can be used in subsequent NEPA processes based on FHWA planning guidance.  Specifically, a robust in person and online public engagement process was done to gather feedback that informed preliminary purpose and need statements and helped screen alternatives.

Analysis of seasonal variation suggests that traffic volumes occur often enough within a range where capacity enhancements or traffic management strategies are justified.  The region essentially experiences “special event” visitation levels for weekends and holidays throughout the summer.  However, the nuances of the situation are complex and evolving, particularly as Garden City expands local streets that provide alternatives to bear Lake Boulevard.  Selection of appropriate strategies should find balance between accommodating peak season travel demand without overbuilding and considering the values of the community.

The Bear Lake Corridor Study identifies a spectrum of issues that include intersection design, turn lanes, pedestrian mobility, roadway geometry, on road cycling, and beach access.  The study provides recommendations for several priority project and implements strategies and serves as a basis for UDOT and stakeholders to plan improvements.  The study was careful to recommend projects that are appropriate given the context of the scale and variability of visited demand, the context of the semi-rural setting, and public preferences.

Recommendations are provided in the final chapter as “cut sheets”—each project is summarized with information for project description, purpose and need, preliminary costs, environmental screening, outstanding issues, time horizon, and implementation steps.  Supporting engineering drawings and cost estimates are provided in the appendices."

Pilot projects that were suggested are as follows:

Traffic Management Committee

Temporary speed feedback signs

Numbered or named beach access points

Centralized park-and-ride located near 300 West with shuttle service to key beach access locations

Park-and-bike facilities near 300 West

Bikeshare program that operates on weekends during peak season.

Temporary traffic signal at the interest ion of US 89 and SR 30

Traffic pace car

Temporary Variable Message Signs (VMS)

Courtesy shuttle between the Marina and Marina overflow parking

Free taxi or shuttle during weekends.