Salt Lake City launches study in quest to close long-standing east-west divide
Turner Bitton knows all too well about the struggles that trains pose on his daily commute.
As a Glendale resident, he's often blocked by trains while trying to make it over to the city's east side or make it back home. Some of these trains can be stopped for hours, forcing drivers to detour several blocks to find one of the few access points linking both sides of the tracks.
Don't have a vehicle? Good luck.
"It can be a very long trip," said Bitton, chairman of the Glendale Community Council. "Folks who are on a short schedule. If a train stops, it can be a real problem."
Between I-15 and railroad lines, residents of Salt Lake City's west side have long fumed over the barriers that separate themselves from the rest of the city. The city is now looking at a way to reduce as many of those barriers as possible.
Salt Lake City announced Wednesday it has formally launched its much-anticipated West-East Connections Study to review options that can improve transportation connections between the two sides. The city plans to review options that can improve driving, walking, bicycling or riding transit across the city.
"Future transportation investments must reflect the voices of west-side residents — not just because it's the right thing to do, but because the best solutions come from the residents who live with these challenges every day," said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall in a statement. "The west side deserves more ways to connect, and this study is the next step in making them happen."
Salt Lake City's transportation divide dates back to the 1870s. Shortly after the transcontinental railroad was completed in Utah, railroad companies began building a corridor that helped link the city with the rest of the country.
That decision proved to be detrimental. City officials pointed out, in a description of the study, that the west side of the tracks became "less desirable and often used as a dumping ground for waste." The side had always been "racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse," but the rails were used to help redline residents to that side in the 1940s.
The divide worsened in the late 1950s, as I-15 was constructed a few blocks west of the railroad. Today, only a handful of roads have bridges or tunnels that allow for traffic flow between the city's two sides, adding to road congestion and difficulty for neighborhood residents without vehicles.
"The east-west divide is more than just a mobility challenge. It's really feeling like the west side is underinvested in," said Joe Taylor, a Salt Lake City transportation planner. "That's what we're trying to get at with the folks who live it every day."
The city and other agencies have taken some steps to address the problem in recent years.
Salt Lake City and other agencies have already looked at a few ways to improve these barriers. In 2023, the Utah Transit Authority opened a pedestrian bridge along 300 North over the rails in a section often blocked by trains. Construction is expected to pick up this year on a 400 South trail over the freeway, following the Folsom Trail opening in 2022.
Bitton says he's also appreciative of the 9-Line Trail's expansion in the city.
The new study aims to find larger solutions. City officials gathered $3.7 million to study the issue in recent years, a large chunk of which came from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program.
Taylor said the city is planning to review every possibility as it looks to close transportation gaps over the next two years.
"That can range from anything from major infrastructure to small treatments," he said. "We're wide open on what the solutions will be."
That could lead to more paths and bridges, or it could point to wider measures like the Rio Grande Plan, a resident-led initiative to bury the railroad lines across a large section of the corridor near downtown. The latter would allow freight and commuter trains to move through a tunnel while opening up dozens of acres for new development.
It's since gathered support from city and county officials but also requires massive funding with its estimated cost now ranging from $3 billion to $6 billion. Salt Lake City Councilman Dan Dugan told KSL.com last year that the Rio Grande Plan could be viewed in the study once it's started because it could solve the biggest barrier and open up new economic opportunities to recoup the cost.
"I think it's got a lot of potential," he said at the time. "This is the core section of town that we really need to connect well from east to west."
Contributing: Andrew Adams
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National Geographic
a day ago
- National Geographic
Can Africa's great nomadic people save their way of life?
'If rainy season comes and we have grass and water, I'm happy,' says Fulani herder Alhajji Soh, 25, pictured in the rural community of Déali, Senegal, where rainfall has decreased dramatically. 'Some years we don't have grass and water … at those times I'm unhappy.' Photographs by Robin Hammond Near the southern edge of the Sahara desert, millions of people in some 20 West and Central African countries share a way of life. Year after year, they take part in the ancient practice of nomadic pastoralism, herding livestock across increasingly hot, arid lands of the Sahel region in search of fresh grasslands and accessible water as the seasons change. From the western coast of Senegal to the eastern shorelines of Sudan, herders follow different migratory routes that can cover hundreds of miles. Most of these pastoralists share another important distinction: They are Fulani, an Indigenous people who have a broad cultural identity shaped by such traditional journeys. These groups are vast and varied, and many are traveling in new directions. The Fulani, a predominantly Muslim collection of Indigenous communities spread across nearly two dozen Central and West African countries, are connected by pastoral traditions that stretch back centuries. In northern Cameroon, teenagers (from left) Fadimatou Moussa, Hawaou Hamadou, and Amin Moussa belong to the Mbororo people and take part in annual migrations. Ousmanou Hamadou, 67, and Hamadou Adamou, 51, tend to their goats, sheep, donkeys, and cattle in Cameroon. In fact, the majority of these predominantly Muslim people today are no longer herders. In recent generations many took up farming or settled in towns and cities to follow different prospects to provide for themselves and their families. In Guinea, the Fulani who migrated to the Fouta Djallon mountainous region now grow crops and allow their livestock to roam free. In Sierra Leone, many Fulani have become entrepreneurs who wield influence over the direction of trade and politics. In Nigeria, where the population has grown dramatically, Fulani herders now face increased competition for land and resources. Here, pastoralists lead their cattle through arid lands during the dry season, which in recent years has lasted longer due to climate change. Because Fulani herders are often in transition, they have historically encountered issues accessing and managing the lands they've traversed for generations. Yet despite Fulani people being minorities in almost all the countries where they have settled, several strong leaders have emerged. In recent decades, at least five Fulani presidents have served in African nations. Across the Chad Basin—a landlocked region that includes parts of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon—conflict orchestrated by the jihadist group Boko Haram has disrupted the livelihoods of many Fulani, displacing communities of herders and farmers that have been forced to settle in camps like this one called Taal. Violence accompanying territorial disputes is just one of the many challenges that confront the Fulani. After fleeing violence in Burkina Faso, Jajo Jallo, 49, and his family became refugees in Ghana. Adam Gaya, nine, along with his donkey named Bako, is shown in the village of Fadouk in Niger. On the most basic level, 'Fulani' has become an umbrella term that encompasses many different groups of people, explains Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a Fulani Mbororo woman and a knowledge holder among her community. She compares those groups to branches on the Fulani tree. 'In West Africa, you have Futa Toro [and] Fouta Djallon,' says Ibrahim, who is a National Geographic Explorer and president of the Peul Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad. 'And then in our area of Central Africa we have some Mbororo'—which is her own branch of peoples. Within the branches there are many different communities. But the majority still feel a strong connection to the land, she says, and their ancestral way of life. At the same time, those who carry on the traditional practice encounter new threats from climate change and regional disputes along their pathways, including occasional aggression from landowners. Some of the more recent conflict may be fueled by an unfounded assertion among some governments and non-Fulani communities that the Fulani are disproportionately joining jihadist groups. The reality is that herders heavily contribute to the region's economy and have a long history of peaceful trade with farmers and business owners. For years, these Mbororo people typically migrated between Nigeria and Cameroon, but as the land they traversed has fallen into private ownership, their traditional routes have become dangerous. Now they travel only within Cameroon where some swaths of open grassland still offer a welcoming corridor. Their journey continues to be an arduous one as temperatures soar in the region. While Fulani may live off the land, they also help replenish it. As these pastoralists travel, Ibrahim points out, their livestock leave behind manure that enriches the soil with nutrients, creating more fertile land. They also trim trees along their routes, strengthening branches that encourage growth and protect against brush fires. Pastoralism is the most adapted livelihood to the Sahel ecosystem, Ibrahim says. (Meet the woman who is inspiring a new future for Africa's nomadic herders.) To gain deeper insight into these often misunderstood communities, photographer and National Geographic Explorer Robin Hammond chronicled their travels over a six-year period. In this story, he shares rare images that speak to their vibrancy and to the enduring hardships they face. 'Fulani culture is amazing and unique, but it's important not to romanticize it,' says Hammond. 'Many herders are just struggling to survive.' A version of this story appears in the July 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine. An Explorer since 2019 and Barcelona-based photographer, Robin Hammond documented the traditions and challenges of nomadic Fulani people in communities across Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, and elsewhere. The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded Explorer Robin Hammond's work. Learn more about the Society's support of Explorers. Alexa McMahon is a senior features manager at National Geographic magazine.


NBC Sports
04-06-2025
- NBC Sports
Oilers' Zach Hyman says his right wrist was dislocated late last round, knocking him out of the playoffs
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04-06-2025
Oilers' Hyman says his right wrist was dislocated late last round, knocking him out of the playoffs
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Zach Hyman said Wednesday his right wrist got dislocated late last round, an injury that is sidelining one of the Edmonton Oilers' most valuable forwards for the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. Hyman sported a brace on his right arm after undergoing surgery last week to repair the damage caused by a hit from Dallas' Mason Marchment in Game 4 of the Western Conference final. 'I knew it wasn't good when I got hit,' Hyman said. 'Right away, I just felt my wrist kind of go on me. ... Quickly realized when I saw the doctors it's something that needed surgery and something that I wasn't going to be able to play through.' Hyman memorably said after the Oilers' Game 7 loss to Florida last year that he believed they would be back in the final. In a cruel twist of fate, his teammates are, but the 33-year-old winger is not able to play in the series. Win it for Hyman has quickly becoming a rallying cry for Edmonton. 'Missing him is big; he's a huge piece of this team,' veteran Adam Henrique said." His physicality, net-front presence, in the locker room — all those sorts of things. Just a great person, so we're certainly going to miss him on the ice but he'll be there and we'll certainly fight for him." Oilers players video-called Hyman after beating the Stars without him in Game 5 of the West final to move on to compete for the Stanley Cup again. He said that meant the world to him. 'It caught me off guard,' Hyman said. 'I was crying. It was really emotional. You just feel so much a part of the team and for them to do that in that moment meant a lot.' Hyman is expected to be around the team throughout the final, flying to Florida and providing whatever insight and moral support he can without lacing up his skates. He called it 'acting like I'm playing but obviously not.' 'Some things in life you can't control,' Hyman said, 'and this is one of them.' The Panthers are mostly healthy, but they ruled out A.J. Greer for Game 1 of the Cup final with an undisclosed injury. Jesper Boqvist takes his place in the lineup. 'It's important that, fortunately for us, it's not his first time in the playoffs, so he hasn't been sitting for a long time and he's had some pretty good success when he's come in,' coach Paul Maurice said of Greer. 'And he fits. He's spent time with all of those players. There's nothing new for him, so he can come in and just play.' Edmonton is getting a key player back with Connor Brown expected to be back after missing two games because of injury. Coach Kris Knoblauch called the strong two-way winger a game-time decision, while Brown declared himself good to go and all signs pointed to nothing standing in the way of a return. 'He's been playing great all playoffs,' linemate Trent Frederic said. 'He brings a lot of energy, brings a lot of swagger, a lot of jam, so we're excited to get him back.' Jeff Skinner, who played more than 1,000 regular-season NHL games in his career before making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut in the series opener in the first round and then got scratched until replacing Hyman against Dallas, appears to be out to make room for Brown.