Council greenlights planning-traffic code work to require safety standards for new development

Far West City Council on Sept. 3 approved an initiative directing the traffic committee to work with the planning commission to create traffic‑safety standards for future development and to explore funding for consultant support.

Committee members said the effort is intended to produce a toolkit of scenario‑based design responses — for example, when a newly developed street meets certain criteria, the city’s code would list candidate treatments (bulb‑outs, narrowed lanes, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and so on) that should be considered.

Councilors emphasized that the general plan provides policy guidance but that the code must carry “teeth” to ensure developers implement the safety measures the plan recommends. Staff and committee members recommended soliciting an outside traffic engineering consultant through regional partners (Wasatch Front Regional Council) and applying for relevant grants — such as carbon‑reduction and active‑transportation funding — to pay for studies and implementation.

Council authorized the joint traffic/planning work and directed staff to return with a proposed scope and budget for consultant assistance and proposed code language timelines.