Makid, you always make me so hopeful with talk of new funding coming in. But now combined with Utahn's observation that politicians/planners would prefer the west TRAX alignment (in the I-15 corridor), this suddenly makes me very nervous. You two are going to give me a heart attack!
How horrible would it be for new transit funding to come through just in time to enable planners/politicians to pick the more expensive but less effective west option? I would have to spend the next few years wandering the Wastch in silent hermitage to deal with my grief.
My bets are still on this study being an official way to let the state legislature down gently: "Yes, it is physically possible to run TRAX through your precious prison site, and yes, it would generate
slightly more ridership, but it would cost this much more..."
And it is going to be a LOT more. Where is there space to run TRAX along the freeway without ripping out whole roads and businesses? That section of I-15 is already slated for huge expansions to ribbon-ramps (AKA collector-distributor roads) that are already going to bloat that stretch of road beyond its ROW. There just isn't enough room for TRAX unless you want to elevate the whole thing. Meanwhile the east option already has all the bridges sitting there, empty and ready for TRAX trains to roll over them....
So yeah, it seems like a pretty obvious choice to me, but now the both of you have got me worrying again. Thanks a lot.
