SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of federal lawsuits have been filed against Utah's Department of Transportation and the U.S. Forest Service related to the agency's decision to proceed with a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Salt Lake City, Sandy City and their joint Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City & Sandy sued because they actually control the watershed in Little Cottonwood Canyon and surrounding canyons. The litigation argues that environmental analysis conducted for the gondola option have not been sufficient to safeguard the drinking water supply that the cities control.
"Little Cottonwood actually provides water to a million people. It’s a very precious resource. We want to make sure that is adequately addressed," deputy Salt Lake Public Utilities director Jesse Stewart said in an interview with FOX 13 News on Monday.
The lawsuit does not appear to go after UDOT's proposed solutions for traffic congestion, rather the cities seek to protect their watershed interests on behalf of residents in Salt Lake County.
To address traffic congestion in the canyon, particularly during ski season, Utah's Department of Transportation went forward with plans for a gondola — but only after other mass transit options including increased bus service and toll roads had been tried first. The gondola, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, has been the source of opposition from environmental groups and residents who live near the heavily trafficked canyon.
"With the addition of a 2,500-stall parking structure at the mouth of the canyon, the influx of additional traffic would have a serious detrimental financial and public safety impact on the most environmentally sensitive area of Sandy City. In addition, we have a shared obligation to protect the Little Cottonwood Canyon watershed, which is the primary source of drinking water for Sandy residents," Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski said in a statement.
The Utah State Legislature has not funded a gondola, but instead spent $150 million for mass transit options in Big & Little Cottonwood Canyon. Governor Spencer Cox has said in the past he favors the gondola option, while legislators have been mixed on it. Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson opposes the gondola itself and favors more mass transit like buses.
Late Monday, the environmental group Save Our Canyons sued UDOT. The lawsuit alleges backroom dealing with Utah state legislators to build the gondola as well as not adequately considering the impacts of gondola towers on the wilderness area.
"By the time the public even learned that UDOT was considering this proposal, it already had formidable support from high powered, influential politicians and leaders, thus placing a thumb on the scale in favor of this project and obscuring the transparency and objectivity of UDOT's NEPA process," the Save Our Canyons litigation says.
It is the third lawsuit in a week against UDOT over the gondola project. A coalition of community groups filed their own lawsuit last week.
In a statement on Monday, UDOT declined to comment on specifics of the litigation, but said it was working toward improved bus service and toll roads with the gondola unfunded.
"Despite the legal challenges, our goal is to have Phase 1 bus service operational by the 25/26 ski season. However, due to litigation, implementation of the bus service and other improvements may be delayed. At this time, we still do not know the full impact that any of the legal challenges will have on the implementation of improvements such as bus service and tolling," UDOT spokesperson John Gleason said in an email to FOX 13 News. "We will continue to assess potential schedule impacts to Phase 1 as we work through the legal process."
