Quote:
Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho
Major downtown highway could get tunnel treatment as part of new sports district plan
Smith’s group is at least considering burying the heavily-traffic route between North Temple and 100 South, and using the area above the tunnel to install the new pedestrian mall and entertainment district depicted in the rendering of the district.
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Somebody please help me understand this. When I criticized the project, one of our comrades here made fun of me for "defending the 200 West tunnel."
Yet now that King Smith wants to build a tunnel on 300 West, that's somehow good?
When the LDS church wanted to build a skywalk at City Creek, development experts tore it apart worried it would destroy engagement on Main Street. Well, nothing screams engagement like putting the street underground entirely! /s Worse, it sounds like the 1960s "downtown killer"-style development
I would have advocated for years ago.
![](https://i.imgur.com/km1FV8J.png)
Caption: GM's vision for the "downtown of the future" circa 1939 -- or Salt Lake City, circa 2024.
I guess it comes down to what we want SLC to look like: Portland or the Las Vegas Strip. In fairness, both accommodate large numbers of people on foot. But I was hoping SLC would become a bit more like Portland (smaller blocks, public ownership of streets, at grade, calm streets) versus Paradise, NV (high-speed, privately owned, grade separation). Neither is "bad" but the latter feels so stale for a city center. Oh well.
(I stand by my skepticism. Ryan Smith's development is nothing but a warmed-over version of "Frank Gehry will design Utah's tallest at the point of the mountain" tech-bro vaporware. Except this time, tax payers are on the hook.)