UDOT outlines first Utah Trail Network projects, $45 million-per-year funding

The Utah Department of Transportation on the Active Transportation Committee meeting described the initial projects and funding for the Utah Trail Network, a state initiative to build a statewide paved trail system.

Stephanie Tomlin, Trails Division director at the Utah Department of Transportation, said the program has ongoing state funding of $45,000,000 a year and that UDOT programmed 19 projects in May 2024 after reviewing roughly 160 project ideas. Of those 19 projects, 14 were selected for construction and 5 for feasibility studies, she said.

The projects selected cover a range of regional priorities, Tomlin said, from grade-separated crossings to gap-filling spurs that connect existing pathways. She told the committee that the program does not have eminent-domain authority and that some locally funded projects were included because local contributions “let our money go further.” Tomlin said the initial set of projects has a combined price tag of about $95,000,000.

The Salt Lake County projects described include a section of 3900 South from the Jordan River Parkway Trail to West Temple and segments of the Bingham Creek Trail and Welby Jacobs corridor, all funded for construction. In Davis and Weber counties, selected projects include a Blacksmith Fork River Trail segment and sections of the Bear Lake Trail; in the Ogden area, the 3 Gates Trail was funded for a feasibility study and a grade-separated crossing over SR 108 in Clinton was funded for construction.

Tomlin noted several projects will require coordination with other owners or operators—Union Pacific is involved in a Bluffdale rail crossing—and that some local partners already have funding in place. For Bluffdale, the city is funding a bridge across a rail corridor; UDOT’s UTN funding would construct a connector to the Jordan River Parkway Trail only after that bridge is built, she said, and city officials told the committee that the bridge is roughly a year from construction start.

Tomlin said UDOT paused broad programming in March 2025 while it completes a comprehensive UTN master plan based on stakeholder workshops; the next programming cycle is expected about a year later and will use the master plan as a “North Star” for multi-year scheduling. She said projects will be programmed on a schedule consistent with other UDOT programs and that tier 2 and 3 projects not funded in 2024 remain eligible for future rounds.

Committee members asked about specific project timelines and feasibility-study scopes; Tomlin said some projects could be advertised for construction as soon as fall or winter and that feasibility work aims to resolve right-of-way, environmental and terminus questions before construction funding is pursued.

Tomlin emphasized that the program’s prioritization favored shovel-ready projects or projects with local funding commitments and that feasibility studies were funded where important gaps remain but constraints make immediate construction premature.

UDOT posted project details and maps at utahtrailnetwork.udot.utah.gov and said the agency will coordinate with MPOs and local jurisdictions as the master plan and future programming proceed.