UDOT

This is a notice of a public comment period for the Phillip Gates Memorial Park Section 4(f) use with de minimis Impacts as part of the FrontRunner South of Draper Double Track Project in Bluffdale, Salt Lake County, Utah

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) are proposing to add double track south of the existing Draper Station of the FrontRunner commuter rail system in the cities of Draper and Bluffdale in Salt Lake County, Utah. As the lead agency for this project, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in compliance with Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Act of 1966 (23 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Section 774.17), is providing public notification of its intent to make a finding of use with de minimis impact to Phillip Gates Memorial Park, a Section 4(f) resource in the project area.

The proposed UTA track will be constructed entirely within the existing UTA right-of-way, and existing vegetation within the UTA right-of-way will be removed. To reduce the project footprint and minimize impacts to Phillip Gates Memorial Park, an approximately 825-foot-long retaining wall will be constructed along the entire length of the park except for an approximately 150-foot gap at the south end of the park property between the location where a wall for 14600 South ends and the location where the new retaining wall for the project extent will start.

The wall will be built along the eastern edge of the park mostly within the UTA right-of-way and along a sliver of the park’s parking lot. Because the topography varies, the height of the retaining wall will range from 12 feet high adjacent to the park’s parking lot on the north end to about 4 to 7 feet high at the south end of the park. A 6-foot-high chain-link fence will be added on top of the proposed retaining wall for safety, and another chain-link fence will be installed along the entire eastern edge of the park and UTA right-of-way boundaries to ensure full separation between the park and UTA right-of-way.

Constructing the retaining wall will require a permanent acquisition of approximately 0.11 acres of park property on the north end of the park. The 0.11-acre of park property will be permanently incorporated into the UTA right-of-way; it includes a small sliver of paved parking lot
in addition to the lawn space north of the parking lot immediately adjacent to the existingFrontRunner track slope. Some of the trees in the park will be removed to construct the retaining wall and to reconstruct the access road and parking lot. The exact number of trees that will be removed will not be known until final design and construction; however, the project team is committed to minimizing impacts to the extent possible. Any trees removed within the park will be replaced by the project contractor in coordination with Bluffdale City after construction is complete.

Construction access and equipment staging will require a 0.82-acre temporary construction easement along the eastern section of the park from the western edge of the FrontRunner right-of-way through about three-quarters of the width of the access road as well as all of the parking lot and the portion of Royal Coachman Drive that is within the park. Portions of this temporary construction easement will be used at different times during
construction, and, when they are not being used, they will remain open to the public. None of the park’s amenities, including the playground, picnic pavilion, parking lot, restrooms, or trails—will be permanently affected by the Project. The pond/stormwater detention basin, located
south of the playground, will also not be affected by the Project. Neither permanently converting the park’s land to transportation use nor the temporary construction easement within a section of the park will have a notable impact on the activities, features, or attributes of either the park
or the trail.

The public comment period starts July 13 and ends July 27, 2025. Any person or group wishing to
submit comments regarding the project’s effect on Phillip Gates Memorial Park, or FTA’s intent to
make a de minimis impact finding under Section 4(f), may do so in writing. Submit comments by email
to [email protected]; by web at FrontRunner2X.utah.gov; ; or by postal mail postmarked by July
27, 2025, to FrontRunner 2X c/o HDR, 2825 E. Cottonwood Parkway, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, UT
84121.

Comments provided during the comment period will be reviewed and considered by FTA, UTA, and UDOT
as the Project develops. Comments received during the comment period will be documented in the
project record. To review impact information, visit FrontRunner2X.utah.gov.
Para información en español, llame al 888-882-0373.