Minutes of the 61st Quarterly Salt Lake GIS Users Group (SLUG) meeting, held on April 9, 2025 from 11:30 am to 1:00 at Utah Geographic Resource Center (UGRC) Taylorsville State Office Building - Tuacahn Room (4315 S 2700 W, Taylorsville, UT 84129). There were about 70 people in attendance today.
Business
Zlatko Grebenar, SLUG Board
Welcome to SLUG’s 61st meeting! We would like to thank UGRC for hosting and sponsoring this meeting and providing lunch!
Laura Ault, UGRC
UGRC (Utah Geospatial Resource Center) is the state's map technology coordination office. Its mission is to promote the effective use of geospatial data and tools across Utah. Key focus areas include: Public Lands Survey System (PLSS), County/City data standards, Public service best practices, State and federal GIS coordination, Innovation in mapping and data use. Currently, the UGRC is putting their efforts into engaging with all 29 counties through interviews to gain a deeper understanding of local GIS needs, challenges, and capacity gaps. Next year Maps on the Hill will be on January 21,2026 which is the 2nd day of the legislative session and showcase impactful GIS projects. Follow UGRC on Instagram: @ugrc.gis, Facebook: @UtahAGRC, and X: @maputah.
Stan McShinsky, UGIC Board
Just a reminder that UGIC will be in Logan, Utah this year on May 12-16, 2025. Registration is still open and you can register here but hotel rooms are filling up so if you plan on going and staying in Logan, make sure to book a hotel room sooner than later. Submissions for abstracts is still open until April 18th, if you are wanting to submit an abstract, you can do that here. To find out more about UGIC, visit their website.
Presentations
Kalvan Hone, Provo City Public Works, Synchronizing Provo Street Centerlines and UGRC Roads Data with Python
Kalvan talked about how the UGRC transportation data project focuses on aligning Provo’s street centerlines with the statewide Utah Roads dataset for accurate routing and addressing. Provo and Utah County submit new centerlines during development, populating address ranges based on a grid. Discrepancies exist between the datasets, and a geoprocessing method is used to spatially link segments, even creating connection lines where necessary. A Jupyter Notebook helps assign Utah Road IDs to Provo segments. Only roads marked with a "sync" value in the “SyncType” field are included in the synchronization. Core attributes used in routing and addressing must match to ensure accuracy in emergency services, deliveries, and signage. Discrepancies are reviewed by GIS staff, and some are communicated to other agencies. Unique IDs are essential for syncing, though changes sometimes disrupt links. The project has improved communication with UGRC and raised the possibility of syncing with county data instead, including sending Provo’s unique identifiers for better integration.
Claire Ashcraft, Wasatch County, Improving Emergency Management in Wasatch County Using Esri’s Emergency Management Operations Solution
Claire talked about how Wasatch County, Utah, a rapidly growing area with 37,000 residents, faces various emergency risks including wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. The county’s emergency management, led by Jeremy Hales, and supported by a small GIS team, had limited communication tools prior to recent updates. Following the devastating 2018 Dollar Ridge Fire, Wasatch County implemented the ArcGIS Emergency Management Operations (EM Ops) solution. This pre-built Esri toolset enhanced emergency communication and coordination, featuring public-facing and internal tools like dashboards, maps, and surveys. The solution was first tested during the 2024 Yellow Lake Fire, which led to further refinements like better press release handling and stakeholder resources. Future plans include integrating damage assessment capabilities and improving evacuation zone mapping. To see Wasatch County’s Emergency Management Hub, click here.
Bert Granberg, WFRC; Scott Davis, UGRC, Utah Bikeways Web Map -- for Bike Month and Beyond
Bert gave a preview to what the WFRC has been working on and will be coming out soon in late May 2025. Bikeways.utah.gov is a new web map and data platform aimed at mapping cycling infrastructure across Utah. Developed with input from UDOT (roadways) and UTA (transit), the project seeks to identify a data steward for bike and pedestrian information. It will support users ranging from seasoned cyclists to cautious riders, as well as planners, funders, and advocates. The platform will include GIS layers for both on-street and off-street bike routes, with a focus on keeping data current and useful for both planning and public use. Key features include route type and stress-level filters, mobile-first design, GPS integration, feedback submission, fast updates, and downloadable GIS data-all aimed at creating a seamless and accessible cycling map for Utah.
Our next meeting will be August 20th at DNR, keep an eye out for more information on that.
Thank you to our presenters and for joining us in person. If you have any ideas for a presentation or any other matter, please contact a SLUG board member. We welcome short or long presentations on any projects that you might be working on that might benefit others. If you have any contacts that would be willing to ‘sponsor’ a lunch by providing food/drinks in exchange for their advertising at the meeting, contact a SLUG Board member.
We appreciate your interest and support!
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