Seven Greenways Vision Plan
Capturing the collective imagination in creating innovative, resilient greenway corridors.
The Seven Greenways Vision Plan is an effort to capture the collective imagination in the creation of greenway corridors along the seven major waterways flowing out of the Wasatch Range in Salt Lake County, including City Creek, Red Butte Creek, Emigration Creek, Parleys Creek, Mill Creek, Big Cottonwood Creek, and Little Cottonwood Creek. A greenway is a linear corridor located around a stream and adjacent land. They are used to enhance bicycle and pedestrian access, generate economic activity, increase resilience to flooding, treat stormwater through stream restoration and daylighting, and provide valuable habitat for wildlife.
The Plan highlights areas of opportunity in each of the seven greenways, recommends best management practices, possible policies for implementation, and includes a toolbox of design concepts and guidelines. This process offers each municipality concepts and resources for implementation of the plan and may become part of future general plans, park and trails plans, economic and capital improvement plans, and ordinances.
The Seven Greenways Vision Plan received a 2022 Utah American Planning Association Merit Award, a 2023 Utah American Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence in Analysis & Planning, and a Colorado/Wyoming American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award in Analysis & Planning.
“We believe the Seven Greenways Visioning Plan will reflect the aspirations of our city and the entire value to have green corridors along the seven major waterways flowing out of the Wasatch Mountains.”
Background
In 2019, we presented a regional visioning effort to establish greenway corridors along our seven creeks to the Salt Lake County Council of Governments. The Council recommended Wasatch Front Regional Council study the proposition. Led by Salt Lake County, we received a $135,000 grant from the Wasatch Front Regional Council’s Transportation & Land Use Connection Program to fund the visioning. Salt Lake County and all eight municipalities (Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Midvale, Millcreek, Murray, Sandy, Salt Lake City, and South Salt Lake) support the project and will, collectively, provide matching funds.
