UDOT Backs Bus Expansion and Winter Tolls, Rejects Gondola Plan for Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT

The Cottonwood Canyons in Utah are infamous for their infuriating red snake accessing the mountains. The Utah Department of Transportation has long been constructing proposals to mend this error with no prevail. The 2022 gondola proposal up Little Cottonwood Canyon invigorated the public and UDOT received the most responses on any proposal ever, totalling 50,000; 35,000 against the proposal and 15,000 for it. Along with public reaction, three companies have sued to stop construction of the gondola which has stalled the enactment of the other resolutions such as busses and tolls. Big Cottonwood Canyon suffers from this same traffic problem, and for both practical as well as public relation reasoning, they are proposing significantly increased bus service as the Big Cottonwood Canyon solution.

• Related: Will The Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT, Gondola Ever Get Built?

“More buses. More tolls. No Gondola.” is the essence of UDOT’s proposal to aid the traffic problem up Big Cottonwood Canyon. UDOT recognizes the prevalence of this issue as all weekends, no matter the snow conditions, as well as pow days and holidays have almost inaccessible traffic up the canyon. They aspire to mend this problem with the most improvement possible along with the least impact. 

Buses are the key to their strategy. Currently, buses loop every 30 minutes and there is some parking at the mouth of the canyon. This new proposal offers buses every 10-15 minutes at the plan’s inception with the goal of a bus every 5-7 minutes by 2050. The road up the canyon is almost entirely one lane with buses and cars alike. Alongside more buses the proposal offers a bus only lane that would stretch from the fire station up to the end of the canyon at Brighton Resort. 

The mouth of the canyon is another bottleneck that stops traffic throughout Wasatch Boulevard. UDOT’s offer includes a gravel pit alongside Wasatch Boulevard exclusively for bus travel, as well as a pickup and 1,750 space parking garage for bus travelers. 

Buses are the core of this proposal, but with no intention of eliminating car access, they do have plans to mitigate car travel. A winter-only toll located before Solitude parking, with variable costs dependent on canyon traffic, is proposed to encourage either carpooling or especially bus travel. 

To encourage bus use, UDOT also plans to improve the comforts and safety of bus travel. The displeasure of waiting for a bus at the cold and windy mountains will be aided with the addition of indoor bus stops at both Solitude and Brighton equipped with lockers and restrooms. The existing bus stops at Cardiff Fork, Spruces Campground, Silver Fork, and Silver Lake will be improved with both platforms and pedestrian crossings. UDOT doesn’t just want to encourage bus use, but make it equal in comfort to car travel.

So what are the costs and inhibitions of this proposal? The most difficult addition will be the 20 new buses and drivers to the Utah Transit Authority fleet, a 5% increase to their existing 400 buses. The net expenditure will be around $350 million paid for by Utah taxpayers. With the exception of bus or driver shortages, as well as other stalls, UDOT anticipates launching their proposal as early as the 2028-2029 season. 

As this plan is still being environmentally evaluated and continuously edited, the public has time to voice their opinions prior to the final plan being launched possibly by April 2026. With the environmental assessment deadline on January 9, 2026, there are two public hearings beforehand. The first is on December 17, 2025 from 6-8 PM at Canyon View Elementary, 3050 Bengal Blvd., Cottonwood Heights. The second is December 18, 2025 from 6-8 p.m. as an online listening session.

The problem of canyon traffic is not unique to Utah, and despite countless attempts of fixing it throughout the skiing world, they often prove futile. This BCC traffic proposal undoubtedly has its merits, but needs the input of the public both paying for it and impacted by it. With cooperation from all, the terror of canyon traffic could be a thing of the past.