Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[delts145]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

Has the modal share for transit in Salt Lake gone up since the LRT and other transit improvments have gone into effect?

Could one of you guys go over to the skyscraperpage forum / transportation section / Salt Lake debuts, and answer this question for Mike? Thanks

[delts145]

Old Jersey Comets - UTA buys East Coast rail cars - The '70s-era single-level cars will supplement those on FrontRunner

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9749907


Larry Underwood paints the buffer pad one of several Comet 1 series rail cars acquired from New Jersey Transit at the Warm Springs Rail Service Center in Salt Lake. The aluminum early 1970's railcars were not being used in New Jersey and were tansported to Utah where they are being cleaned, renovoated and painted to be used on the FrontRunner commuter train. (Al Hartmann /The Salt Lake Tribune)

...the Utah Transit Authority believes the Jersey Comets are a quick fix for about 6,000 commuters crowding its new FrontRunner rail cars every weekday.


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[SLC Projects]

I wounder if any of those 1970's railcars comes with a disco ball?

[MetroFanatic]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

I wounder if any of those 1970's railcars comes with a disco ball?

Ha! I want to know when UTA is going to start switching out the railcars on the Sandy/University lines to the Siemen S70's. Does anybody know?

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by MetroFanatic

Ha! I want to know when UTA is going to start switching out the railcars on the Sandy/University lines to the Siemen S70's. Does anybody know?

According to the article from May:

"SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Transportation Systems
Inc. (STS) received notice to proceed from Salt Lake City's Utah Transit
Authority (UTA) to build and deliver 77 S70 light rail vehicles over a
four-year period. The $277M contract surpasses the order volume from Siemens'
most recent win in Denver for 55 light rail vehicles. This is UTA's fourth
order with Siemens, bringing the total number of Siemens vehicles for Salt
Lake City to 117."

The order was placed in May, and they should be delivered over the next four years. Not sure exactly what that means, but I wouldn't expect to see them for at least another year or so.

Next time you're on FrontRunner, pay attention as you go by the Warm Springs facility. UTA has gobs of old trains there, from the useless METRA cars, to the COMET cars that are being refurbished, as well as a bunch more of the "ghetto TRAX" trains that were acquired from San Jose. I'm not sure what they plan on doing with those; since they are ordering new cars, you'd think they wouldn't need any more old ones.

[SLC Projects]

Not sure. But I always thought it would be a great idea for Sandy to have some kind of a railcar line running from the last trax stop at around 10000 South have it run down 10000 south to city hall and the soon to be big development.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

Not sure. But I always thought it would be a great idea for Sandy to have some kind of a railcar line running from the last trax stop at around 10000 South have it run down 10000 south to city hall and the soon to be big development.

I think a streetcar would be a nice way to connect TRAX, Frontrunner and all of the new development in between:

[arkhitektor]

ouble post:

[Future Mayor]

Downtown plan approved

The Salt Lake City Planning Commission has given Downtown in Motion a green light.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700238970,00.html

[delts145]

West-side cities re-emphasizing opposition to toll for new road

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700241177,00.html

It's been a little more than a year since Salt Lake County's west-side cities started rallying against the idea that toll charges could be a way to pay for the Mountain View Corridor.
But several west-side cities are starting to re-emphasize their opposition to tolling by passing resolutions against that possibility in the hopes that it will be taken off the table once and for all.

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[delts145]

Park City-SLC bus route explored - Lines into the Basin are popular, so leaders expand their ambitions

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_9788803?source=most_viewed


A bus heads toward Park City near Kimball Junction as it travels along the popular Snyderville Basin route. Officials at City Hall, Summit County and the state government have agreed to explore a bus route between the West Side and Salt Lake City, but many details need to be finalized before one starts. Scott Sine/Park Record

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[NYC Rick]

I bet those cars need an almost total rebuild.

This is definitely a smart way to increase ridership without problems.

I know the cars will work out well but I bet they have a ridiculous amount of miles on them

[ski_steve]

Utah Supreme Court rules for TRAX in Draper rail-siting dispute

By Jennifer W. Sanchez
The Salt Lake Tribune



After 18 months of legal wrangling about where to put a TRAX line in Draper, a Utah Supreme Court ruling today cleared the way for light-rail trains to run through the city's east-side residential neighborhoods.
Opponents of that route sought a referendum on the alignment, but the justices ruled the decision was administrative, not legislative, and thus not subject to the ballot box.
"The determinative test of whether an action is administrative or legislative is whether it creates new law or whether it is an implementation or execution of existing law," wrote Chief Justice Christine Durham.
In January 2007, Citizens for Responsible Transportation (CRT) submitted a petition to force a referendum on the proposed TRAX alignment along the Utah Transit Authority's right of way.
The grass-roots group wanted the train to run farther west along the city's dense commercial corridor near State Street and Interstate 15. They had hoped to keep TRAX from zipping by homes and feared it would, among other things, heighten noise, increase crime, hinder scenic views and decrease property values.
But UTA and Draper officials favored stringing TRAX along the existing UTA-owned right of way - an old train route it bought from Union Pacific in 1993.
In April 2007, 3rd District Court rejected CRT's

bid to overturn the planned TRAX route, saying a city resolution could not be challenged because it was an administrative, not a legislative, decision.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9852225?source=rss

[delts145]

MAX-TRAX service to begin at station

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700242872,00.html


The Utah Transit Authority will host a grand opening event at 210 W. 3300 South Monday morning to welcome the new MAX rapid transit line. The transportation corridor extends 10 miles along 3500 South and connects West Valley and Magna residents to the Millcreek TRAX station.

European-style fast bus coming to Utah
-This rapid transit line to Magna will operate much like TRAX

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9866065


The Utah Transit Authority shows off its new "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT), nicknamed "MAX," at the TRAX Millcreek Station at 3300 south Friday. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune )

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[RFPCME]

Originally Posted by delts145

MAX-TRAX service to begin at station

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700242872,00.html


The Utah Transit Authority will host a grand opening event at 210 W. 3300 South Monday morning to welcome the new MAX rapid transit line. The transportation corridor extends 10 miles along 3500 South and connects West Valley and Magna residents to the Millcreek TRAX station.

European-style fast bus coming to Utah
-This rapid transit line to Magna will operate much like TRAX

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9866065


The Utah Transit Authority shows off its new "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT), nicknamed "MAX," at the TRAX Millcreek Station at 3300 south Friday. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune )

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Nice!!!!

[delts145]

Redwood Road gets wider for bigger load


http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9904415?source=rv

UDOT upgrades stretch of roadway to handle 30,000 vehicle trips per day, adds bike paths and sidewalks


Coy McAffee, of Draper, rides in a bike lane Wednesday along Redwood Road in Riverton. The bike lane is a recent addition to the roadway. (Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune )

[urbanboy]

It's good that they've included a bike path and sidewalks, but in my opinion, this type of bike path is nothing to brag about. Does anyone know if the sidewalks feature buffers between the pedestrian traffic, and the automobile traffic?

[delts145]

Study: Utah sprawl could choke productivity
- 'Megapolitan' areas of the West need Congress to spend more on transit, think tank says

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9938085

Today the train only goes so far - Salt Lake City to Ogden - and it doesn't go nearly as fast as those in European and Asian productivity centers. Experts warn that without a massive new building program, the West and America will suffer.

.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by delts145

Study: Utah sprawl could choke productivity
- 'Megapolitan' areas of the West need Congress to spend more on transit, think tank says

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9938085

Today the train only goes so far - Salt Lake City to Ogden - and it doesn't go nearly as fast as those in European and Asian productivity centers. Experts warn that without a massive new building program, the West and America will suffer.

.

This has been my point all along. If we allow for developments like Eagle Mountain, Herriman, and then the mega developments in Sandy and Lehi to continue, sprawl will be perpetuated to almost incorrectable amounts. There needs to be repsonsible control and planning now! that discourages people from continually building further and further away from the core! There are ways to infill and make denser living attractive! Some of you on here are all happy about the big mega developments happening out in Herriman, Lehi, and Sandy. This is the wrong course of development! We need to fight against such huge disproportionate and ignorant development!

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by Orlando

This has been my point all along. If we allow for developments like Eagle Mountain, Herriman, and then the mega developments in Sandy and Lehi to continue, sprawl will be perpetuated to almost incorrectable amounts. There needs to be repsonsible control and planning now! that discourages people from continually building further and further away from the core! There are ways to infill and make denser living attractive! Some of you on here are all happy about the big mega developments happening out in Herriman, Lehi, and Sandy. This is the wrong course of development! We need to fight against such huge disproportionate and ignorant development!

Everyone on here knows that I am a fun of urban infill and density. However there are positives to the proposed Herriman development. Herriman is not a place that a growth boundary will be put into place, yes it would be nice to do so but I think it is to late at this point in the cities development to do so. Maybe I am to much of a realist. Responsible growth boundaries do need to be implemented around existing infrastructure. If the residents of Herriman want to go shopping they currently have to get in there cars, drive to Bangeter and go to Jordan Landing, The District or South Town, even if there are stores within Herriman that they can get most of there things they will have to drive from place to place. The proposed development can provide herriman with a town center a focal point and a place within the city to provide shopping needs, thus it has the potential to reduce car trips to a population that is already there. It's not as if they are building the center in the middle of a field because development is headed that way, development is already there, and the shopping is catching up.