The police chief in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, says he opposes new state law that prohibits drivers from parking in bike lanes

Sounds like the police chief in Cottonwood Heights, Utah needs to quit and run for state legislature since they seem confused about their job. Police chiefs don't make the laws, they enforce them because they are law enforcement officers.

Hopefully no one has anything sharp on their bikes and if they do they don't ride too close to the paint or tires of those poor cars.

It looks like they already have parks there with a trail system. Maybe some of it could be connected with dedicated trails that don't just run on the side of the road.

It looks like near Cottonwood Heights, there's the Jordan River Parkway Trail, which appears to be paved, and looks like it north-south spans Salt Lake City.

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I-215 passes along Cottonwood Heights. It looks like it has a sound barrier along at least part of it, with an undeveloped area on both sides to help keep noise away from houses. If one put an east-west bike trail along that, you could use that to get from Cottonwood Heights to Jordan River Parkway Trail.