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Trail closures in neighboring canyons spur Emigration Canyon planning for parking, signage and enforcement
Summary
With Mill Creek and City Creek set for multi-year closures, Trails Utah and council members warned of increased visitor traffic; the council discussed speed-feedback signs, pavement markings, parking management, and running a management plan with the engineering traffic specialist.
Trails Utah and council members warned that multiyear construction projects in nearby Mill Creek and City Creek will likely push hikers and cyclists into Emigration Canyon, prompting the council to discuss proactive traffic, parking and trail-access management.
Sarah Bennett, executive director of Trails Utah and chair of the Central Wasatch Commission’s Recreation Systems Committee, told the council the Mill Creek project will close upper sections this spring and that Salt Lake City’s City Creek work involves a $90 million treatment-plant overhaul that may close the canyon entirely during construction. "We're really going to experience an influx of people coming into the canyon in the next couple years looking for quick places to hike and get out with their dogs," Bennett said.
Council and staff discussed specific mitigations: speed-feedback signs and pavement markings, formalizing trailhead parking (signage and delineated spaces), and a possible paid-parking model used in other canyons. Staff noted the engineering group has recently hired a traffic engineer and recommended surveying frequent parking spots to formalize permitted parking and add signage. Legal counsel said the city may restrict roadside parking if there is a rational public-safety basis (traffic congestion or obstruction of private access) but warned such programs require staff, signage and enforcement capacity.
The council also flagged safety issues tied to increased roadside parking — fire risk from hot engines on dry grass, obstructed sightlines, and bicycle safety — and suggested a work session and coordinated plan with MSD engineering and Trails Utah. Members discussed trial measures and a multi-month plan to identify formalized parking areas, maintenance needs (trash removal and dog-waste stations), and potential funding sources from MSD maintenance pools or targeted grants.
What’s next: staff will include this topic as a standing item and coordinate a field survey with the traffic engineer and Trails Utah; council members volunteered to assist with site identification. The item will return on future agendas with proposed signage locations and maintenance-cost estimates.
