SALT LAKE CITY- The Glendale neighborhood in Salt Lake City added three new colorful murals to its streets in an effort to calm traffic.
The new street murals were implemented by the Glendale Neighborhood Council and its art committee as part of theirGlendale Active Transportation Plan. The plan, which has been in the works for just over a year, is a long term vision that outlines policies, programs and infrastructure improvements to enhance the transportation network of the community.
“It's a mural that's on the street," said Sarah Wolfe, arts chair for the Glendale neighborhood Council. "Oftentimes, they're made kind of like a crosswalk, and the idea is that when people are driving and they see it, they will slow down.”
The new street murals can be found on 800 West and Fremont Avenue, Parkview Elementary located at 970 South Emery Street and near Dual Immersion Academy located at 1155 Glendale Drive.
Artist and Glendale resident Kelbe Goupil says she was inspired by something many residents see everyday.
“It is a representation of the shape of the Jordan River within the Glendale neighborhood boundaries.”
Goupil is not only is excited to see her art liven up the streets but to see the greater effects it will have on her community.
“It's very cool to think that not only is something that I designed, brightening the community, but also hopefully helping to make our streets safer,” Goupil said.
Wolfe hopes that the initiative will highlight some of the community’s needs in traffic infrastructure.
“We just found there were certain areas where, for example, on 800 West that there are no stop signs,” she said. “There's been a lot of effort to try to get speed humps, put in or some other kind of traffic calming and it hasn't been done yet.So this is also kind of in part a message to the city that these are places where we really need to have infrastructure to help slow down traffic.”
