Ogden unveils preferred Wall Avenue plan emphasizing pedestrian safety and traffic calming

City consultants presented a preferred concept for the downtown section of Wall Avenue on Oct. 7 that aims to better connect Union Station with 20 Fifth Street and transform the street into a multimodal corridor.

Jacob Farnsworth of Kimley Horn told the Ogden City Council the plan focuses on reducing vehicle speeds, improving pedestrian safety and aligning the roadway with changing land uses in the Union Station neighborhood. "The vision for Wall Avenue was to better connect Union Station with 20 Fifth Street to serve as a multimodal corridor," Farnsworth said.

The team reviewed several alternatives and recommended a modified-median approach as the preferred near-term concept. That design would add medians and bulb-outs, provide a signalized mid-block crossing and construct a multiuse path on the east side to serve pedestrians and recreational bicyclists while preserving on-street parking on at least one side. Farnsworth said the preferred option "preserves vehicle capacity better, lowers speeds, and is implementable within 10 years."

Consultants presented other options they considered and largely rejected for near-term implementation: a pedestrian overpass (which would require approximately 255-foot ADA ramps that would remove on-street parking and curb retail access), a bypass tunnel with through lanes below grade (which would involve major utility relocations and prohibit implementation within a 10-year horizon), and an unbroken boulevard median (which would increase travel times and eliminate left turns).

Council members pressed the team on travel-time impacts and crossing operations. Farnsworth said preliminary analysis shows a north'south trip that begins near Twelfth Street and continues to Riverdale Road could take "a couple minutes" longer through the downtown stretch under the preferred concept, but that trade-offs were weighed against safety gains. On mid-block crossings, Farnsworth said they would be signalized and coordinated with nearby signals rather than operate as on-demand push-button crossings.

Staff and the consultant emphasized that UDOT is a key partner: UDOT helped fund the corridor study and provided comments, and the consultants are awaiting a second set of UDOT comments. City staff said the next formal implementation step would be to secure a corridor agreement with UDOT so the concept can be advanced into design and right-of-way processes.

The presentation made clear the project will be phased: near-term traffic calming and pedestrian improvements in a 0—0-year window and longer-term alternatives such as express lanes or grade changes for a 20-to-30-year horizon. Farnsworth said the preferred approach tries to balance safety, land-use goals and vehicle throughput while leaving opportunities for larger future interventions.

Council members asked for additional data and renderings and discussed outreach needs; the council did not take formal action on the plan during the work session. The project team said they will continue coordination with UDOT and other stakeholders and return with refined analysis and a proposed corridor agreement timeline.