As growth continues, South Jordan looks to bikes and more trails
Jun 25, 2024, 7:30 AM | Updated: Jun 27, 2024, 3:10 pm
A cyclist bikes past the site of the future Salt Lake Bees ballpark in South Jordan on Friday, June 2, 2023. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Editorial note: The featured photo in this story has been replaced with a photo that more adequately reflects the city of South Jordan, Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY — South Jordan City is among the ten most populous cities in Utah according to U.S. Census Bureau information. As such, city leaders said they want to stay ahead of potential problems associated with continued growth.
That includes traffic issues.
According to information posted in a “civic alert” on its website in early June 2024, South Jordan City is considering transit and active transportation (bicycling and walking) to address potential future problems.
The city said an active transportation plan is part of its master transportation plan. It also said the plan includes adding more bike paths and lanes.
Why bikes?
Adding or expanding bike lanes and paths makes sense, said Rachel Van Cleave, South Jordan City spokesperson.
“So we’re actually seeing increased uses of the bike lanes,” Van Cleave told KSL NewsRadio. “There’s more demand and a lot of that is due to e-bikes for people that may not be able to physically exert themselves quite as much.”
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Indeed, citing Google Trends, Cycling West lists Utah as one of the top three states in the country where people are searching for the term “e-bikes.”
It’s not a trend that’s expected to cool. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy reported 1.1 million e-bikes were sold in the United States. Four years earlier, in 2018, there were 325,000 e-bikes sold in the U.S.
Do people ride bikes in South Jordan bike lanes?
Officials with South Jordan City say more people are using bike lanes. Van Cleave said this confirmation comes from an app called Strava Metro. The app is an offshoot of the Strava exercise tracking app. Strava Metro provides information that applies to cities, Van Cleave said.
But they learned something else too — that multi-use trails have more bike traffic than bike lanes on city streets. Van Cleave said this has their team thinking differently.
“We’re looking at higher comfort options,” she said. “So what that looks like are buffered bike lanes, protected bike lanes, where that’s totally separate from the road.”
According to the city’s website, South Jordan’s Regional Transportation Plan includes a wider 11400 South which incorporates protected bike lanes.
“These lanes would provide a safer and more practical route for cyclists traveling east-west through South Jordan,” according to the civic alert posted on the South Jordan City web page.
“Additionally, South Jordan is studying solutions to make Shields Lane more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly.”
