Orem staff outline trails master plan, cite grant-funded Bonneville Link and property hurdles

Orem City planning staff presented an overview of the city's Trails, Open Space and Active Transportation Master Plan (adopted 2021) at a Nov. 19 meeting, emphasizing priorities for a connected backbone trail network, new trailheads and improvements that could make several corridors eligible for state and federal grants.

"This plan was adopted in '21," the presenter said, describing a simplified backbone-trail view intended to connect major destinations and make routes easier to conceptualize. He highlighted existing corridors including the Murdoch Canal Trail, Burrough Canal Trail and the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and described a funded segment of the Utah Lakeshore Trail that is ready to move forward once outstanding property-title issues are resolved.

Why it matters: inclusion in an adopted plan is often a prerequisite for grant funding. Staff said being explicit about corridor connections and priorities helped make the Bonneville Link project eligible for a grant that will fund construction of an initial, shorter connector.

The Bonneville Link, a working title for the targeted connector, will include a roughly quarter-mile 10-foot multiuse path from the Murdoch Canal Trail to Cascade Drive and additional separated facilities that link into existing routes. "We actually will be putting in a 10 foot multi use path from the Murdoch Canal Trail to Cascade Drive," the presenter said, and added that some longer sections will be physically separated from vehicular traffic.

Staff cautioned that several obstacles remain. The Utah Lakeshore Trail segment has property-ownership disputes in places, and crossings of major roads such as Geneva/800 North require coordination with UDOT and safety studies; staff said grade-separated solutions or reroutes to lower-volume streets may be necessary. On safety adjacent to waterways, a commissioner offered a personal account: "my little brother drowned in that canal," raising concerns about how trails alongside canals would protect children and other users. The presenter said portions of canal could be piped and emphasized that the corridor is still in study phase and would require additional public outreach and phased implementation.

Planned trailheads funded by the grant may include pavilions, lighting, shade trees and fiber-optic installation for camera-based security. Staff said standardized wayfinding signage, modeled on a county standard, will be applied across jurisdictions so users encounter consistent designs when a trail crosses city boundaries.

Commissioners discussed the role of trails in both recreation and transportation chapters of the general plan and agreed the general plan should remain high level while the parks master plan carries operational detail. Staff noted survey results and public outreach underlying the master plan, and said more than half of responding residents listed trails as a top priority during earlier planning work. Being listed in the adopted plan, staff said, helped the city qualify for grant windows in the past and can unlock funding opportunities.

Next steps: staff will continue coordination with neighboring jurisdictions (including Vineyard), UDOT and regional agencies, pursue the grant-funded Bonneville Link construction, and plan additional public outreach to resolve property and safety concerns before advancing longer segments of the network.