- Salt Lake City Council approved downtown street closures for the 2027 Salt Lake Temple open house.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will pay $2.3 million for the closures.
- Concerns about impacts were raised but safety and event flow are prioritized.
SALT LAKE CITY — A few street segments in downtown Salt Lake City will be closed for half of 2027 under an ordinance that city leaders approved on Tuesday.
The closures, authorized to exist between March and October next year, apply to the blocks of North Temple, South Temple and West Temple that are adjacent to the Salt Lake Temple located at the center of the county's grid system, according to the measure that passed unanimously during a Salt Lake City Council meeting.
Traffic control barricades are to be installed on additional blocks of North Temple and West Temple, which stretch toward 200 North and 200 West. While it will complicate travel for him, his family and his neighbors, Salt Lake City Councilman Chris Wharton, who lives near the closure area, said the measure is important for event safety.
"This isn't just about ensuring the visitors that are coming to this event are safe, and it's not just about making sure there aren't any traffic accidents, but also — because of the scale of this event — there's a potential for malice and for people to want to do harm ... and that also goes into the public safety considerations for an event like this," he said before the vote.
The proposal to close the roads emerged in early February, but Wharton explained that it was not the first safety option the city explored for the 2027 event, which is expected to bring 3 million to 5 million visitors downtown.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will pay the city approximately $2.3 million for the temporary lease of the closed roadways, according to the city. Andrew Wittenberg, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office, said it will be "reinvested into the city" in some way.
Some local business owners and residents voiced concerns about potential impacts in a public hearing earlier this month. Some asked for minor exceptions, such as allowing bikes to cross through the closure zone.
Those concerns were "very reasonable," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told reporters a day after the public hearing. The city and church are still working on a final plan for the area, and that feedback could inform how the closure is managed next year.
"We, with our partners at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and (the Utah Department of Transportation), are exploring how to achieve both the safety that's needed for the event and the regular flow of the neighborhood that downtown actually is," she said.
Those aren't the only measures being considered for the open house, which will be the first time the Salt Lake Temple has been open since a massive renovation project began in 2019 — and the first time it will be open to the general public in over a century.
It's a tremendous opportunity, but one that will have its challenges, Wharton said. Residents and visitors are encouraged to use public transit, while the church has been exploring a shuttle service with park-and-ride facilities to help with transportation issues.
The city's business community has also spearheaded an initiative to install 50 new artistic, beehive-themed lampposts along Main Street to enhance safety and beautify the area ahead of the open house celebration.
"We've got a year to prepare for this ... and I'm committed to my best to make sure that we minimize (any) inconveniences," Wharton said.
