Three Creeks Confluence
Quick Facts
City: Salt Lake City
Cost: $3M
Year: 2021
Best Practice: Stream daylighting, green infrastructure
Length: 200 ft.
In 2014, a group of University of Utah students imagined an ambitious vision, 100 Years of Daylighting (2015 Utah American Planning Association Achievement Award recipient). This work became the foundation for the Seven Canyons Trust. Starting with City Creek, students traced each of Salt Lake County’s seven major creeks from the headwaters in the Wasatch to their confluence with the Jordan River. It was realized that three of these creeks—Red Butte, Emigration, and Parleys—spilled out at the same location: 1300 South and 900 West in Salt Lake City.
Sandwiched between an auto shop and half-burnt home, the initial visit revealed a degraded site. The area was paved over with a dead-end segment of 1300 South—weeds, garbage, and encroachments abound. Back in the classroom, renderings and site plans were created to demonstrate the location’s potential. Highlighted as the centerpiece of 100 Years of Daylighting, the Three Creeks Confluence was thus conceived.
In 2021, approximately 200 feet of creek was uncovered at the Three Creeks Confluence. The delta shape slows down water, spreads it out, and allows it to soak into the ground. It can accommodate up to 500-year floods. A low-flow channel conveys baseflows through much of the year. A new eddy allows boaters an opportunity to rest, relax, and enjoy the creeks. It serves as an alternative put-in/take-out along the Jordan River Water Trail.
The east-west bridge connects the site to the Jordan River Trail. It serves as a gateway for nearby community anchor institutions and the surrounding neighborhood to the Jordan River and a 120-mile trail system across the Wasatch Front. The north-south bridge provides opportunity for anglers to toss a line in at one of the most popular fishing holes along the Jordan. It doubles as a community art installation, featuring twenty unique pieces designed by local west-side artists. The laser-cut steel panels depict Salt Lake City’s waterways, riparian wildlife, and the Glendale neighborhood. The plaza provides a venue for relaxation, education, and celebration. A nature play space salvaged trees from 2020’s windstorm into a creative, fun area for children. In 2017, the Three Creeks Confluence received an Achievement Award from the Utah American Planning Association.