At some point in the next few weeks you may find yourself answering questions on a Logan City survey asking you about the planned construction project along Canyon Road. Logan City Council and Mayor Holly Daines are determined to proceed with their own vision of this project despite input from those of us who live in the neighborhood that we do not want a sidewalk on the north side of the street.
But the survey probably won’t ask you whether you think that it would be a good idea to put a sidewalk at the base of a geologically unstable hillside, requiring in some stretches, a 12′ retaining wall.
It will ask you whether you prefer a wider sidewalk (8′) or a narrower one (5′). It won’t tell you that if the city opts for its preferred solution – the 8′ “path” – homeowners all along the road, not just those in the ash tree row, will see significant cutbacks into their property, possibly beyond the right-of-way.
The survey will probably give you some tree species to choose from to “replace” the trees lost in the project, but it won’t tell you that an urban arborist says that trees are unlikely to flourish in the compacted soil resulting from construction.
You may be asked if you want to see more trail connectivity between First Dam and downtown, but you likely won’t be asked if you think that a bike trail running along a busy street is preferable to improvement of the west end of the existing canal trail and an equitable solution with the property owners to create a through-way for bikes and pedestrians there at 600 East. Finally, your opinion on the pedestrian crossing at 600 East and Canyon Road might be solicited, but it is unlikely that you will learn from the survey question that putting in a four-way crosswalk at the base of the steep dugway will entail eliminating the right-turn lane that currently eases traffic congestion at the bottom of the hill.
You may wonder why the details of this plan aren’t public. So do many of us who live along Canyon Road. We only learned of these details because some people were selectively invited to meet with city officials and engineers from JUB, the firm in charge of the project. They were asked not to share the information with their neighbors, but fortunately, they did. Since we first learned of the project in October of 2024, the city has traded in obfuscation, misdirection, and sometimes outright misrepresentation of the facts and taken a condescending and dismissive attitude towards citizen concerns. about the details and history of the project. Respond to the survey, but be informed!
Alexa Sand,
Logan
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