I speak to you from the common folk who work hard and play hard in Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). Call me Bruce. I am well known, and I go up and down the canyon every day. I am not rich, judging by my vehicle and ski gear, and I do not share the values that would spend $592 million for a problem that occurs only a few wintery days a year.
Exaggeration and greedy hype have gotten us monstrously overcomplicated options. I don’t support the wasteful spending to put an eyesore of a gondola in the Wasatch.
In the spring, summer and fall there is no need for a gondola. UTA doesn’t run buses year round in LCC. Did you know that? Will the gondola stand idle most of the year?
It’s not a transport issue.
It’s a winter capacity issue. LCC is at capacity on every powder day now, not just weekends. COVID-19 and the updated parking rules at Alta and Snowbird have been the experiment we always needed. The results — long bus lines and bad drivers with poorly maintained vehicles — are the problems to work on.
Please tell your elected officials that we have bigger problems than one canyon’s traffic on 3-5 days per year. For example, the drought.
Utah needs to run a trim budget during inflationary times, especially on megaprojects that will inevitably exceed cost projections. Please do not waste money on one beautiful and special canyon that will be forever changed and scarred with a gondola or avalanche tubes on the road.
Matt Bouis (Bruce)
Sandy