Granary District businesses, locals band together on guerrilla transit projects

Salt Lake City’s popular Granary District has ballooned, but locals feel its infrastructure — and the city — hasn’t kept up.

Groups of people hopping between the neighborhood’s breweries, restaurants and evening concerts often find themselves walking along the path of unfinished sidewalks, or crossing large, dark intersections without marked crosswalks.

“It’s just a kind of, ‘Take your own life into your hands,’ if you’re going to walk from Fisher to Slackwater,” Fisher Brewing co-owner Tim Dwyer said. “You have to kind of traverse the wilderness over there.”

Over the last five years, the Granary District has seen a “huge boom in development,” Dwyer said. In turn, local businesses formed the Granary District Alliance, a nonprofit that works to support local businesses and the greater neighborhood through thoughtful growth.

Dwyer serves as the group’s chair, and he said they’ve pushed the city to do more public works projects to help keep the area safe and walkable. But they say officials are dragging their feet.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Local businesses in the Granary District of Salt Lake City have resorted to painting crosswalk lines themselves as the city drags their feet on needed street improvements. The intersection of 800 S at 400 West is one example, pictured Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

The city says it has a limited amount of funding for upgrading safety improvements, so busy areas surrounding schools and parks are prioritized first. For bigger overhauls, waiting on large-scale development is often the best way for an area to get the improvements that Granary District locals are asking for, Salt Lake City transportation director Jon Larsen said.

“Almost always, when a big development comes in, they end up having to replace all the curb, gutter and sidewalk out in front of the building anyway,” Larsen said, pointing to construction in Sugar House as an example. “... So coming in and putting in brand new curb, gutter and sidewalk along the frontage that’s about to be redeveloped — I just don’t feel like would be a good steward of the public funds.”

But business owners say some critical improvements can’t wait for developers to break ground. That’s why a group of community members recently took to the streets themselves, painting a new marked crosswalk across 800 South at 400 West.

“What we’re trying to make the case for is, that stuff is coming, and we want it to feel like a connected neighborhood that you can move around safely,” Dwyer said. “And so it’s worth making those investments up front and not necessarily waiting for development to dictate the timeline on that.”

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Residents in the Granary District of Salt Lake City have resorted to painting crosswalk lines themselves as they say the city drags its feet on needed street improvements. The city says there's limited funding, and projects near schools, for example, are prioritized first.

Larsen said he can’t endorse community members painting their own crosswalks, but the city does want to support the Granary District.

He pointed to bike lanes and angled parking the city added along 700 South as an example of the city’s efforts, along with the repaving of a bike route along 600 South, where crews ripped out an abandoned rail spur that posed a danger to cyclists.

“We’ve kind of had to be scrappy and try and do things on a shoestring,” Larsen said. “Eventually each of these blocks will probably get fully rebuilt, and so until then, we’re just trying to address issues and be responsive with low-cost tactical interventions.”

One such project is the green loop — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s plan to transform a portion of downtown between South Temple and 900 South with green space and more pedestrian-friendly improvements, like trail connections and mid-block crossings.

The plan is still in its early phases, and the Legislature passed a bill this session that would delay the project by preventing any Salt Lake City transportation plans that would decrease vehicle traffic.

But even when big plans like the green loop move forward, the city still has to do its due diligence to get community feedback and plan specific construction designs before breaking ground.

“I wish we could go faster,” Larsen said. “We have a lot of really high expectations as far as engagement, because everyone — especially transportation, and parks is probably a close second — everyone has an opinion about it. … But it’s worth it, because I think we get a better product and higher buy-in from the public.”

In the meantime, Larsen urged Granary District locals to submit proposals to the city’s Capital Improvement Program, which funds five to seven resident-submitted projects each year. The Granary’s business owners have their heart set on a permanent roundabout at 500 West and 700 South, which was set up on a temporary basis during the city’s open streets program last fall.

Applications for the program are due each September, and they’re then reviewed by a constituent board, the mayor and the City Council before the council determines what will be funded between August and early September of the next year.

In the meantime, the Granary community may move forward with more of its own improvements to the area.

“We will do it by any means necessary, including doing it ourselves, if need be,” Dwyer said. Though, we would like to work with the city to make sure that happens in a more official capacity. "

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tim Dwyer, Co-Owner of Fisher Brewing Company, and member of the Granary District Alliance, leads a conversation with the group on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, to discuss improvement plans for the area.