Amid rampant drug activity, SLC, state fair seal off a stretch of the Jordan River Trail

The Jordan River might still be flowing, but foot and bike traffic has come to a halt along a stretch of its bank on Salt Lake City’s west side.

Earlier this week, the Utah State Fair Corp. put up temporary chain-link fences blocking access to the Jordan River Trail from the Northwest Recreation Center on 300 North to North Temple. That portion of the path runs on land owned by the Utah State Fairpark and, crucially, connects a gravel parking lot on one side of the river to the fairgrounds on the other.

Salt Lake City is supportive of the closure and worked with Fairpark officials on executing it.

The city’s director of homeless policy and outreach, Andrew Johnston, updated the Salt Lake City Council on the closure during a Tuesday meeting.

“Going north [of North Temple], we’ve had a lot of problems,” Johnston told the council. “Still a lot of illicit activity up there, and it’s a pretty hidden area there, as many of you know. It’s hard to get a lot of law enforcement in there all the time with a lot of eyes on. [There’s] a lot of hiding places and issues in there. So, we’ve been in discussions about what else we could possibly do to help limit and help law enforcement in that area. One of the ideas was a temporary closure of that small section.”

For roughly a year now, persistent drug dealing and use along this stretch of the trail has vexed city and Fairpark officials. Some trail users already detour around the section because they don’t feel safe, or they find it hard to navigate with people sitting and standing along the path.

However, the trail here is a crucial connection for commuters heading to and from work, residents getting their steps in and people using the path to get to the TRAX Green Line.

Mike Christensen, a city planning commissioner and west-side resident, rides his electric bike along this stretch every day on his way to work downtown. He, along with others in the neighborhood, has been advocating for a stronger city response to the issue.

But he worries the temporary closure won’t solve the problem.

“I am unsure as to whether or not that is a really good solution,” Christensen said. “The problem is that it tends to push the activities elsewhere.”

He said the city’s approach punishes everyone who lives in the neighborhood or uses the trail instead of targeting people who are part of the problem.

Johnston said the city only closes public lands as a last resort and pointed to cleanups of the west side’s Madsen Park and 500 West’s medians downtown as successful temporary closures that created better conditions in those spaces when they reopened.

Johnston told the council that the closure would at least last for the duration of the Utah State Fair, which opened Thursday and runs through Sept. 15. At that point, city and Fairpark officials will discuss continuing the closure. The Madsen Park closure lasted 90 days.