gholt

Are there any SLC commuters out there that would know a good route from Layton to the Utah Power builiding on North Temple. My friend who is a lineman is looking at riding a bike to SL and then Trax home.

My initial route would be to take W. Layton roads to Farmington and then either go over to Main St and ride it down to N SL and then take Beck / 89 to N temple and then west.

The other route would be at Farmington to take Legacy Hwy and from where the trail ends, find a route to the station. I believe that it ends at I 215 or near Redwood Road.

Let me know your thoughts.

kris247

It's my understanding that the Legacy Parkway Trail connects up with the Jordan River Parkway Trail near the airport. I can't find a good map of the Legacy Parkway, but this page has some PDF images that UDOT is calling a map:
https://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=10...8:::1:T,V:2089

You can grab a map of the Jordan River Parkway here (gigantic PDF warning):
https://www.recreation.slco.org/parks...anRiverMap.pdf

The Jordan River Parkway map is a tad out-of-date (some of the planned trailheads actually exist now, all of the gravel around the center of the valley is now paved, and the proposed east-west Trax alignment is wrong near the 21st South Freeway). However, the JRP map shows that the two trails are supposed to connect. I personally haven't ridden that far north since the Legacy Parkway opened, so I can't confirm it, but I have a co-worker that occasionally bikes in from Centerville, and I'm pretty sure that's the route he takes. I'll check with him when I get a chance, and if he says something different I'll let you know.

In theory Beck Street has a dedicate bike lane. But, again, I personally haven't ridden that far north to confirm it. However, the SLC Bike Map shows that it was supposed to receive bike lanes in 2007. (another PDF):
https://www.ci.slc.ut.us/transportati...2006Fronta.pdf

JR97

Coming down from Layton, I'd work my way to Legacy and ride it until NSL. Jump off at Center Street. Then either head East up to Redwood or head West over the overpass to 2200 W.

He could take Redwood straight to North Temple and then West. But that's a pretty busy intersection.
The "Northern Tier" of the Jordan River Parkway starts at the Redwood Golf Course. So he could also take Redwood to there and jump on. At N. Temple, he'd have to head West for a bit to UPL.

2200 West is a bit out of the way but it's a straight shot to North Temple. Or he could head East at 10th North and jump on the Jordan River and then take that to North Temple.

If he'd rather not do Legacy.. and I don't see why he wouldn't want to since it's an awesome ride with 0 stops, 0 traffic, etc.... then from Farmington take the frontage road all the way into Centerville and take the curve to the intersection towards Wal-Mart. Keep heading South and then stay on the frontage road through Centerville/West Bountiful. At Pages Lane, it's 50/50 either way heading East/West depending on how he wants to get to North Temple.

Heading West on Pages Lane, there are multiple ways to end up heading South. 800 West is nice and ends at 500 S. Bountiful where he'll have to head East for a bit and then back West to 800 West Woods Cross where the train station is. Stay the course until 2600 South. At 2600 he can start working East towards highway 89 and then either Beck or the Gravel Pit road. Take either of those until the first light which is... forget the name... but head West across the tracks and then South again along the I-15 frontage road. It'll wind around a bit, but ends up at North Temple.

Heading East on Pages Lane he can take 200 West and head South until it turns into Highway 89.

Another option is to Trax into Woods Cross and ride in from there and also to there from N. Temple. That's what my brother does most of the time.

I don't recommend 500 West in Bountiful. Heavy traffic and no bike lanes. Let me know if he needs a guide. I commute from NSL, but would be willing to hook up with him as far North as West Bountiful.

Edit: Forgot to add that at Pages Lane West Bountiful, he could go to 1100 West and head South and it's a straight shot all the way to NSL Center Street where he could skip on up to Highway 89 or head West to Redwood. I live in that area and commute 2-3 different ways south depending on my mood, traffic, and construction.

JR97

I should further add that if he takes the 89, Beck Street, I-15 route, theres a few shortcuts once he gets into to town. So following the I-15 frontage, it will wind around a bit and end up in a residential area just West of 89. Heading West at 300 North until 900 West (Fairgrounds) and then heading South until N. Temple shaves off some time and is very bike friendly with bike lanes.

gholt

I like going parallel to I-15, as it appears shorter, but riding on the legacy seems like a no brainer. Better scenery, no stops, lights or traffic is always better than taffic.

One question, once you hit the jordan golf course, does the jordan river pkwy have a lot of foot traffic, or would there be too much stop and start vs. being on an actual street with traffic. and does it weave back and forth that would add extra miles. (Trying to get the shortest route). As I measured it going the legacy route, it would be about 25 - 30 miles. 1 way.

This Saturday, we are going to attempt one of the routes. to see how it is w/out traffic. So, maybe we will go down one way and come back another to see what way works best.

kris247

I just spoke with my co-worker who rides in from Centerville. The Legacy Parkway and the Jordan River Parkway do not actually meet one another. He said that he rides Redwood Rd and connects to JRP just past I-80.

My experience on the JRP is that the traffic is typically light, but there definitely is foot and other cycle traffic. (I keep meaning to buy a bell so I can stop scaring the crap out of pedestrians walking their dogs.) But, the amount of other traffic on JRP is significantly less than you'll see on any city streets -- especially Redwood Road. There's also a lot of homeless who camp along the trail near downtown. I've never had any problems/encounters with them, but it's not unheard of. Just ride fast, and don't make eye contact.

I think you'll probably see more traffic on JRP on the weekends than you will on the weekdays. I know there are a lot of running clubs and other pedestrians who use the trail as a good car-free training/exercise option. I would imagine this is the case on the Legacy Parkway, too.

JR97

From Center St. NSL to N. Temple, Redwood is straight south with only a few lights. There isn't much of a shoulder until the SL County line. But from there it's fine and only gets wider once get into the residential area.

The J. River Parkway from the golf course is pretty sparse in terms of any foot or bike traffic and does wind around a little but mostly in the direction he needs to go and puts him just a tad bit east of his destination but not by much. It basically comes out on the west end of the fair grounds. A shortcut near N. Temple is to cut across the parking lot instead of following the trail over the river at the fairground open air stadium. The only significant stops on the j. river are at 10th North and 7th North but there are dedicated stop lights for those crosswalks.

JR97

The homeless occassionally camp out on N. Temple at the fairgrounds. They're harmless, although there's one dude who sleeps on the sidewalk on N.Temple. They can avoid that section altogether by cutting through the parking lot that is right there. But seriously, they're harmless. I'll occassionally chat it up with them and sometimes handout a granola bar. The only parts on the JRP I've had issues were some kids further south near the International Peace Gardens, further south at the park at 35th south where a lot of homeless hangout, and another time I came across some dudes getting high before 21st south. Those were isolated incidents though. I ride through some pretty rough parts of town regularly after sundown without much trouble.

The JRP through Rosepark is sparse in terms of traffic even on the weekends. The Legacy on the weekends can be a zoo.


Kris, what's your commute? Who's your buddy from Centerville? I grew up in that area.

kris247

My commute is pretty simple - I just come straight down 2100 South from Sugar House to my office near 2100 South and Redwood Rd. But, I ride downtown on the JRP a few times a week just to get out of the office. I used to run the JRP a lot when I was marathon training, so I'm pretty familiar with the entire trail from Draper to the Fairgrounds.

My co-worker in Centerville is named Brad. (Embarrassingly enough, I actually don't know his last name!) I think he's only lived there a few years since we hired him from out-of-state.

gholt

Well, we rode down this morning. we went the legacy route, when it spit at center street, we took the direction that showed to the Jordan pkwy. It ended up being a mortorcycle trail. While this was OK for our Mt. bikes, I think it not the best. So, we followed it for a bit and it took us to Redwood. We followed this past the intersection for the golf course and the next street had an entrance for the river pkwy.

we followed to N. temple and it took us right across the street from UP&L. It was a good ride, but ended up being 30 miles one way.

So, we have to figure a way to shave mileage / time off of the route. Thanks again for the advice. The legacy trail was fantastic, and everyone on it didn't impede our ride, like most trails like these I have been on. (Ogden River pkwy) for example.

JR97

You did the ride on mtb's? That's a long commute even for a road bike. One option might be part public transit part bike. There's a train stop in Woods Cross that would cut the commute close to half. Or bike one way all the way and train into/from downtown.

gholt

I tried to convince him that it would be better to have a road bike, 30 miles is a ways. But he likes the HT Bmtn bikes. So, I rode one with him so I wouldn't make him work too hard to keep up with a road bike. We will be trying to take the route again with him having slicks on his MTB. I believe he has the 1.5" tires in the slicks. Still a long way.

I agree that it needs to be part transit and part bike. He's a lineman, and I would be a little winded going 30 miles and then having to climb up and down poles all day. Especially in the heat.

So, I thought either ride to Farmington or WX / Center Street and take trax the rest, or ride to train and then ride all the way home. It's hard b/c the morning is the best time to ride, but doing that may be too much for a full day of work in the heat.