Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[i-215]

I think I will too. I don't like the diverging diamond simply because there feels like there's something morally wrong with driving on the left hand side of the road. It goes against all my years of driving!

[SnyderBock]

Originally Posted by i-215

Barf-a-rolla ....



Say hello to the Diverging Diamond! Coming soon to the American Fork Main Street exit. I saw this a few months ago on the Transportation subboard, and I really had mixed feelings about it then.

On the one hand ...

Cars crossing onto the oncoming lanes sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

On the other hand ...

A lot of people (including me) were originally critical of SPUI's on I-15, and now I think they are awesome.

What do you guys think? Diverging diamond a good or bad thing?

I don't dislike it, but I can't think of any significant advantage for doing it. It accomplished the same thing, with the same number of intersection with a higher risk of human error. Am I missing something here? What would the advantages be? I can't see any advantages.

[anyiliang]

It looks interesting. I agree with ya that it does not have any significant advantage. The only one I can see is that traffic heading over the freeway wanting to turn left onto the freeway on ramp would not have to wait for a light. They can do with out going through an intersection.

[jtrent77]

The advantages might be made a little bit more clear with the following video (with the arterial being under the freeway rather than over the freeway):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF9Cx0pMsbI

Mainly, it seems to me, it eliminates ever have to turn against traffic to enter a freeway, yet at the same time keeping traffic flowing on the arterial road. You'll notice in the video that if the arterial road has a green light, that direction will go all the way through the intersection without ever having to stop.

Additionally, I'm sure we are all so impressed that Utah is doing something new...but there are other cities that are implenting diverging diamonds into already completed intersections and thus will be done way before the one in Utah.

Finally, one of the beauties of this scenario is that if it fails miserably, there are really only a few minor corrections that would have to be made to return the interchange into what we are more familiar with.

For a description of what the KC Area of Missouri is doing and why they are doing the diverging diamond check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSiOXnvCvZQ&feature=related

[MetroFanatic]

4800 West has been shut down at Old Bingham Highway for mid-jordan work. I think they're putting a grade in, but I'm not sure. It might just be electrical work for now.

[Cirrus]

Less expensive than a cloverleaf, fewer stops (thus higher capacity) than a traditional diamond interchange.

[Makid]

Delta to launch SLC-Tokyo route in June, add flights from Utah to Detroit, Memphis

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_10965143

Delta Air Lines plans to offer direct flights from Salt Lake City to Narita International Airport in Tokyo next June, the airline said Wednesday.
The airline said the new route will connect passengers to 20 Asian destinations.
Delta said the flight between its hub at Salt Lake City International Airport and Tokyo is its first trans-Pacific service from the Rocky Mountain region.
The first flight will depart June 3, a year and a day after Delta began its first trans-Atlantic route from Salt Lake to Paris. The success of that route led Delta to plan service to Tokyo.
Delta will fly the route five times a week using an Airbus 330-200 jet that seats more than 250 passengers.
To prepare for the new route, Delta will increase flying between Salt Lake and Detroit in January. Delta said it will also start new daily service in January from Utah's capital to Memphis, Tenn.
Those hubs and Narita in Tokyo previously had been Northwest Airline hubs. Delta merged with Northwest two weeks ago to create the world's largest airline by passenger numbers.
The new Tokyo service is part of 15 new international routes to Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East Delta announced Wednesday.

[wrendog]

Wow! So fast! Good for SLC.

[delts145]

This has incredible implications for SLC and the Wasatch Front. Woohoooo!!!!

[Makid]

I really hope that they can get the runway extended quickly and then start actually working on upgrading the airport.

This is good news for the whole region and will have a great impact to SLC.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by Makid

Delta to launch SLC-Tokyo route in June, add flights from Utah to Detroit, Memphis

This is great news!!!

First SLC to Paris!
Now SLC to Tokyo!

Come on let's get a non stop flight to London!!!

[Future Mayor]

Regional Council to Study State Street Optimization

"If you could see some increased development along State Street, if we could do some things on the transportation side, for bikes and pedestrians and transit and even the highway, we could take advantage of that infrastructure that's out there," said Hattery.

http://www.kcpw.org/article/6978

[delts145]

More breaking info. on new route to Tokyo

Delta plans nonstop flight from Salt Lake
City to Tokyo

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705262536,00.html

Delta also announced it will begin daily service connecting customers beyond Tokyo to Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam. Northwest currently flies to nine other Asian cities from Tokyo...

...Also Wednesday, Delta announced it will offer a third daily flight between Salt Lake City and Detroit, and new daily service between Salt Lake City and Minneapolis

.

[delts145]

In June, Delta begins direct flights to Tokyo
- SLC passengers can then connect to 20 other Asian cities

By Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune


Shoppers stroll through a street in downtown Tokyo last summer. Delta will soon have direct flights from Salt Lake City to Tokyo. (Katsumi Kasahara/The Associated Press )

Delta Air Lines will launch a second overseas route from Salt Lake City next year, this time to Tokyo as the airline continues to integrate Utah's biggest airport into its long-range plan to fly more outside the United States.
The airline plans to offer direct flights from its Salt Lake hub to Narita International Airport in Japan beginning June 3 with connections to 20 more Asian destinations, Delta said Wednesday.
The Salt Lake City-to-Tokyo run was one of 15 new international routes Delta said it will start next spring as it seeks to protect itself from a stumbling U.S. economy. It chose Tokyo after heavy lobbying by local government and private groups who put together a $2 million package of cash and marketing incentives.
"These flights include new nonstop service between Salt Lake City and Tokyo, the first trans-Pacific service offered from Salt Lake and linking the Rocky Mountain region with Delta's Asian hub," Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president of network planning and revenue management, said in conference call with reporters.
Equally important was the success of Delta's route from Salt Lake City to Paris, which launched June 2. Load factors - the percentage of seats occupied by paying passengers - frequently exceed 80 percent.
"We had a very successful start with that last summer. It's done very well," said Bob Cortelyou, Delta's senior vice president for network planning.
Cortelyou held out the possibility of additional overseas routes from Utah, but wasn't specific. But two weeks ago, when Delta executives met with reporters to discuss its completed merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta Chief Financial Officer Ed Bastian suggested that Amsterdam also was a possibility.
Hauenstein said Delta decided Tokyo should be its next route because the new Delta - now the biggest passenger airline in the world - wanted to balance out its overseas flying from Salt Lake City International Airport, where 3,900 employees are stationed, including 600 pilots.
"There are a lot of ways for people in Salt Lake to take Delta and its partners east, but there aren't a lot of ways to take Delta and its partners west. So I think it was our priority to put in what we consider [will be] very unique service from the mountain states," he said.
Hauenstein said another factor was United Airline's service to Asia from its hub at Denver International Airport. United doesn't fly to Narita from Denver, even though the airport, by traffic, "is the largest Asian market by a factor of two," he said.
"We are thrilled and looking forward to this continued international partnership. It means a lot to this region to have this level of international service at this historical moment," said airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann.
Jason Perry, executive director of the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, said the Tokyo route underscores the shift in Delta's plans for Salt Lake City's airport that began with the Paris route.
"I think [the hub] is going to become increasingly international in nature. They are going to put a lot of resources into the operation in Salt Lake City and they are going to be looking to increase the number of flights coming in and out," Perry said.
Perry's boss, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., said in a statement that the announcement is "proof of the faith and trust the nation's top business leaders have in Utah's strong economic climate and work force." He pointed out that Utah sent $400 million worth of exports to Japan in 2007, making it the state's fourth-largest trading partner. "This new direct flight ties our capital cities together, expanding and strengthening the mutual economic foundations."
Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, said "the nonstop flight to Narita Tokyo is another example of Salt Lake City emerging as a world city."
In a memo to employees Wednesday, Hauenstein said Delta's "smart international growth" has positioned the company well during tough international times. Because of the premium it can charge for tickets, which can easily run more than $1,000 round trip. Delta began to boost overseas flying in 2005 shortly after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Back then, 20 percent of its flying capacity operations were international. By next summer, that percentage will be 40 percent.
"This strategy is advanced by new opportunities created by our recent merger with Northwest, including the ability to deploy a more flexible fleet to take advantage of market dynamics around the world," he said.




* Delta will fly the Tokyo run five times a week with an Airbus 330-200 jet, which can seat more than 250 passengers.
* To expand its east-west passenger pipeline, the airline will increase flying between Salt Lake and Detroit in January. Delta said it will also start new daily service in January from Salt Lake to Memphis, Tenn. Those airports and Narita in Tokyo previously had been Northwest Airlines hubs.

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[delts145]

New I-80 lanes in use today from 700 East to State

Westbound traffic on Interstate 80 in Salt Lake City will shift today from the old eastbound lanes to the new westbound lanes between State Street and 700 East, the Utah Department of Transportation announced. Eastbound traffic in this construction zone is not affected for now, but will be diverted to share the newly paved westbound lanes in mid-December. The moves follow a previous shift of traffic to the temporarily divided westbound lanes from 700 East to 1300 East. During Saturday's shift, westbound traffic will be restricted to one lane from 6 a.m. to noon, and the westbound offramp at 700 East will close from 6 a.m. to about 9 a.m. Westbound I-80 traffic will be unable to access southbound Interstate 15 or State Highway 201 from about 9 a.m. to noon. - Brandon Loomis

.

[delts145]

Next Up for Salt Lake City - Nonstop flights to India?

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705263217,00.html

First Paris, now Tokyo. Next up for nonstop international flights from Salt Lake City? Maybe India.
Jason Perry, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, told the GOED board this week that India is among a few destinations on the state's wish list for Delta Air Lines to serve.

"They entertain our wish lists from time to time," Perry said. "They've started penciling out other potentials for the state already."

The board has talked to Delta about flights to London and Amsterdam, as well as India, he said.

"The state certainly has enough work in India to justify that (flight)," Perry said. "We've let them know that — so has the governor — so we'll keep working on that."


by Ze Eduardo http://flickr.com/photos/97968921@N00/2407422325/

.

[delts145]

Draper rail station is subject of hearings

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705263306,00.html

DRAPER - The Utah Transit Authority will hold two public hearings to address options for a commuter rail station in the city...

[MetroFanatic]

Originally Posted by MetroFanatic

4800 West has been shut down at Old Bingham Highway for mid-jordan work. I think they're putting a grade in, but I'm not sure. It might just be electrical work for now.

Yep! I grade is definitely going in at 4800 West and Old Bingham Highway. I drove past today and they were placing rails in the concrete. Also, the berm that Trax will run in is getting deeper and deeper by the day.

[i-215]

Mountain View Corridor is 'Go Flight'

It looks like UDOT and the FHWA are shaking hands over the Record of Decision to finally build the Mountain View Corridor. That means the state can finally start buying up land. I'd take an non-educated guess and say we could see the big Tonka trucks doin' their thing within the next 18 months.


Source: http://www.udot.utah.gov/mountainview/

http://udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=100:pg:2014930334428374:::1:T,V:1,39303

And don't forget the 5600 West BRT.

[SLC Projects]

ok so with all these new international flights being added and more on the way you'd think SLC would be ready for it's own WTC Tower.