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2023 Regional Transportation Plan

Overview

Wasatch Choice 2050 logo.

An FAQ providing additional information on the 2023 Regional Transportation Plan and Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement is available.

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) sets the regional long-term strategy for our Region’s future transportation system. The 2023-2050 RTP outlines investments for all modes of transportation and forms the transportation element of the Wasatch Choice Vision. WFRC, in partnership with local governments, transportation agencies, community organizations, local stakeholders, and residents, adopted the 2023-2050 RTP in May 2023.

The 2023-2050 RTP is informed by research, discussions, and technical modeling and forecasting to help us understand how the RTP might help us collectively achieve regional quality of life goals. The RTP acknowledges that the Region will not be able to afford all our transportation needs – we must prioritize maintaining a good state of repair, improving safety, and constructing and operating new roadways, transit services, and active transportation facilities. Therefore, RTP is financially constrained within a reasonably anticipated budget using a performance-based planning approach.

This planning process is coordinated with statewide transportation partners to develop common goals, planning time horizons, performance measures, and financial assumptions, which collectively form Utah’s Unified Transportation Plan.

Why is the RTP important?

Utah is experiencing rapid growth. This amplifies the weight of the decisions we make now and over the next few decades. The RTP addresses growth patterns and the transportation of people and goods which impact growth related issues such as poor air quality, high costs of living, and congested roadways. The RTP looks to the future to consider how transportation infrastructure can work with land and economic development decisions to maximize overall quality of life. Further, this RTP creates a framework for understanding and responding to future uncertainties and external forces that have the potential to alter our transportation, land use, and economic systems. By doing so, WFRC hopes to foster resiliency in the Region that helps cities respond and adapt to future challenges and changes.

Recent four-year planning cycles have increasingly recognized the relationship between transportation, land use, and economic development. Holistic planning of these three elements in concert has led to the adoption of the Wasatch Choice Vision, our communities’ shared vision for transportation investments, development patterns, and economic opportunities that will enhance the Region’s quality of life. The RTP informs the Wasatch Choice Vision. Several partners are involved in the development of the RTP and the Vision, including the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), and county and city governments, along with the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG), other agencies, stakeholders, and the public.

As the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Davis, Salt Lake, Weber, and southern Box Elder Counties, WFRC is responsible for coordinating the Wasatch Choice Vision and the regional transportation planning process that is updated and adopted every four years. The planning process looks out several decades into the future to anticipate needed transportation investments. The Wasatch Choice Vision identifies transportation projects and investments, the use of land near those investments, and associated economic development strategies to achieve desired outcomes for local communities and the Region as a whole. The Wasatch Choice Vision also provides recommendations and resources to help stakeholders achieve those outcomes.

The Wasatch Choice Vision is built upon four key strategies.

Transportation Choices

Provide people with real choices in how they get around – by driving, transit, biking and walking – so people can easily reach their destinations.

Housing Options

Support housing types and locations that meet the needs of all residents.

Parks & Public Spaces

Ensure ample and convenient parks, public spaces, and open land for gathering and recreating.

City & Town Centers

Create and enhance city and town centers as the hearts of our communities – walkable areas where activity is focused, with places to live, work and play.

Wasatch Choice Vision Goals

Ten goals form the foundation for the development of the Wasatch Choice Vision and the 2023-2050 Regional Transportation Plan. These goals were adopted by the Wasatch Front Regional Council in October 2016.

Livable and healthy communities

Access to economic and educational opportunities

Manageable and reliable traffic conditions

Quality transportation choices

Safe, user-friendly streets

Clean air

Ample parks and public spaces

Housing choices and affordable living expenses

Fiscally responsible communities and infrastructure

Sustainable environment

RTP Focus Areas

Resiliency

To help the Region grow and adapt in the face of future uncertainties, such as economic, technological, and environmental, WFRC is emphasizing resiliency in the RTP. WFRC developed an in-house application called the Environmental Impact and Resiliency map in order to evaluate the impacts of the 2023-2050 RTP. The tool is made up of different social and natural resources and identifies which environmental features fall within the extents of road, transit, and active transportation projects.

Safety

WFRC is currently working to update the way safety is evaluated to better understand and address safety in the Region through incorporating a safe systems approach, exploring cash factors related to roadway attributes, and facilitating discussions with local communities about roadway and pedestrian Safety. WFRC is currently leading a region-wide Safe Streets and Roads For All Safety Action Plan.

Freight

WFRC recognizes the increasing importance of goods movement within and through the Region and freight mobility is a key component of the Wasatch Choice Vision. With the rise of e-commerce and changing shopping habits, WFRC realizes there is a need to foster the development of an integrated and coordinated multimodal freight network and supports communities in facilitating goods movement while maintaining livability. WFRC is regularly convening an Urban Freight Stakeholder Group to advance freight planning.

For additional information regarding the RTP, please contact Jory Johner.

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