TOOELE, Utah — Tooele County officials said they are ready to take action to improve public safety — and they want to hear directly from residents.
On Thursday evening, the county will host an open-house meeting to introduce its “Safety Action Plan,” a program designed to make local streets and public areas safer.
Longtime resident and business owner Tyson Hamilton said he has always considered Tooele a safe community, but believes there’s room for improvement.
“Safety is a big deal everywhere you go," he said. "Tooele’s been pretty safe all my life, but more safety wouldn’t hurt. More law enforcement — we need more. How to pay them is the problem."
Hamilton owns Another Man’s Treasure, a shop just off Main Street, and serves as director of the Tooele Downtown Alliance. He said traffic is a constant concern for local businesses, especially during community events.
“You’ve got big semi-trucks going down Main Street because it’s a big highway. We need a cut-off road to go around somewhere else. Slow down Main Street a little bit, and that will make it so much safer for our residents,” said Hamilton.
Brittany Lopez, the county’s assistant manager, said the plan is tied to Safe Streets for All, a federal program that could bring additional funding to the area.
“In order for us to get more funding to be able to implement a plan, we have to do this study first,” Lopez said. “We’re looking at traffic data to know where we have unsafe roads, a large number of accidents, but community feedback is one of our best assets.”
She hopes residents will share their concerns and ideas during the meeting.
“It could be the safest community in the world, but there’s still crime, there’s still issues. Bring some ideas, bring some solutions to the problems, and they’re going to listen a lot more. This is your opportunity to brainstorm as a neighborhood watch,” said Hamilton.
The open house is scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Tooele County Building.
DRIVEN TO CHANGE
