Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

Pics please?

It's my day off today, but I'll bring my camera tomorrow and get some pic. Not too much to see as of now. Just crews clearing and digging out the site. Oh and also while driving into the airport along the future trax line I also notice crews laying out the rail line. I'll try to get pics of that as well.

[SLCdude]

FrontRunner Adventure with S.P.

Murray Station





Bridge at approx. 9800 South





Same location, looking South...









Bridge in Lehi



More Lehi...

Looking South...


Looking North...


Jordan Narrows

[s.p.hansen]

I really don't have anything to add to the wonderful variety provided by SLCdude !

Here was an angle looking at the bridge at approx. 9800 South that I liked:



Here is a Union Pacific train traveling over the already completed bridge in Lehi!:


Under these bridges will be a Highway connecting I-15 to Redwood Road through Lehi.


And here is a slightly more zoomed in shot of the Union Pacific Line and FrontRunner Line bridging over the Jordan River spit into canals.

It is very windy down there and thus a very good place for these power producing windmill turbines.

[delts145]

Wonderful pics guys!!! You're making me homesick.

[Neuroguy]

How much of the Frontrunner South will be a single set of tracks vs. double sets of track? It seems like a lot of the bridges and some of the passageways are wide enough for only one set of track. I know that this was/is the case with parts of the North bound route, and if this is also true of the South bound (especially the large and expansive bridges-not to mention expensive)- this seems awfully short-sighted, as I would expect that in the future there will be a need and a push to have two sets all the way connecting. From what I remember on my ride to Ogden, a lot of time was wasted sitting on the track waiting for the opposite bound train to pass. While initially more expensive to build twice as much bridge, I think in the long run it would be cheaper.

[arkhitektor]

When the Ogden line first opened, there was quite a bit of waiting at siding tracks, but they've tweaked the schedule and it doesn't happen anymore.

There probably won't ever be headways of more than 30 minutes between trains, so once they get the kinks worked out of the schedule it probably won't be a big deal. I think that this is pretty standard for commuter rail around the country.

[SLC Projects]

Don't really get what's the deal with the bridge near 9800 South? Not sure if I even like that there.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

Don't really get what's the deal with the bridge near 9800 South? Not sure if I even like that there.

The UTA right-of-way crosses from the east side of the UPRR tracks to the west in that area, hence the bridge.

[UTPlanner]

Thanks for the Front Runner pics. I rarely get south of about 4500 South. It's great to see the work progress. I was especially interested in how the work would be completed in the Jordan Narrows. I think it ought to make for a pretty sweet train ride south someday.

[electricron]

Transit Capacity Planning 101
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_webdoc_6-c.pdf

There's many variables that affects train headways and capacity. Commuter rail operations vary significantly across the country.

Commuter rail ridership in North America is dominated by the systems in the New York area where the busiest routes use electric multiple-unit trains on dedicated tracks with little or no freight service. The capacity of such systems can best be determined from the procedures of Chapter 6, Grade-Separated Systems Capacity.
The final step in the complete method of determining a grade-separated rail transit line’s maximum capacity is to determine the closest (minimum) headway as the sum of the calculated value of the minimum signaling system train separation, plus the calculated or estimated value of dwell time, plus the assigned operating margin.
Equation
H min = T(s) + td + tom
The maximum number of trains per hour Tmax then is:
Equation
T max = 3,600 / H min = 3,600 / T(s) + td + tom
The maximum capacity Cmax is the number of trains multiplied by their length and the number of passengers per unit length, adjusted from peak-within-the peak to peak hour.
Equation
Cmax = Tmax LPm (PHF) = 3,600 LPm (PHF) / T(s) + td + tom
where:
Hmin = minimum headway (s);
T(s) = minimum train separation (s);
td = dwell time (s);
tom = operating margin (s);
Tmax = train throughput per hour;
Cmax = maximum single track capacity in passengers per peak hour direction;
L = train length (m or ft);
Pm = loading level in passengers per meter or foot of train length; and
PHF = peak hour factor

Remember, these formulas are for calculating the maximum passenger capacity. Engineers design corridors for specific goals, which determines the size of trains, type of platforms, type of train controls, number of tracks, and headways of trains, etc.
An engineer can design for less. Engineers can design timetables or schedules for train meets, and determine where passing sidings are require. But there is a point where smaller headways will require more tracks.

[Future Mayor]

While the bridges do look narrow, once you're actually on the bridge it still seems narrow, but from my observation on the Bangerter Bridge there is enough space for a second set of tracks. I would guess that even if dual tracks are required in the future, that there is enough at grade track for passing that train scheduling would accommodate any bridges that are single track.

[SLCdude]

Yesterday my family drove to Rio Tinto Stadium to see the Real Salt Lake game (we're undefeated!) and I made some observations of FrontRunner from I-15:

I noticed quite a bit of electrical wiring on a bridge being constructed in Sandy. Maybe they're installing it now so they can use electric trains in the future . That would be great!

There's also a long stretch of track between the in Midvale that runs parallel to I-15. I like it a lot because It allows car commuters to see what they're missing out on. The traffic to the stadium was bumper-to-bumper and seeing trains zooming by at 70+ miles per hour is a big incentive for people to ditch their cars. Also, we get to show off our fancy commuter rail trains to people passing through SLC.

Oh, I also saw some new TRAX trains parked outside the train storage barn in Midvale (where the mid-jordan line branches off from the Sandy line). That was pretty cool.

[scottharding]

I also like the moments when the Front Runner runs parallel to I 15. Not long after the Ogden line opened, I took a trip up to Ogden on it, just to check it out. As usual, it was bumper to bumper around Bountiful and Kaysville, and UTA didn't waste that opportunity. The train driver came on over the PA and said "Riders, we cruising along at a comfortable 80 mph. If you look to our left you'll notice our friends on I-15 aren't doing so well."

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

Yesterday my family drove to Rio Tinto Stadium to see the Real Salt Lake game (we're undefeated!) and I made some observations of FrontRunner from I-15:

I bet that was a hell of a game. RSL gave the beat-down on LA, 4-1. I see another championship in the near future. Go RSL!!! ( sorry for getting off topic )

[redzeppelin]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

Yesterday my family drove to Rio Tinto Stadium to see the Real Salt Lake game (we're undefeated!) and I made some observations of FrontRunner from I-15:

I noticed quite a bit of electrical wiring on a bridge being constructed in Sandy. Maybe they're installing it now so they can use electric trains in the future . That would be great!

I've heard that some of the telecomm companies run cables under the UTA right-of-way and they bring in some nice revenue from seeling those rights. UTA also runs their own cables under the tracks to support the on-board wifi. Maybe you were seeing some of that?

[s.p.hansen]

Utah bridges among safest in nation, report says

Utah’s highway bridges now rank among the safest in the nation, but still have room for improvement, says a new national report.

About 4.5 percent of local and state bridges in Utah are rated by inspectors as “structurally deficient,” meaning key support structures or their decks are in poor, deteriorating condition, according to a report Wednesday from Transportation for America, a transportation-reform group.

While that means one of every 20 bridges in Utah has significant problems, that percentage is the fifth best among the states. It is less than half the national average of 11.5 percent of all bridges being classified as deficient, the report said.

It also shows Utah has made much progress in the past two decades. In 1988 13.5 percent of the Beehive State’s bridges were rated as structurally deficient. Utah has reduced that amount by two-thirds since then.

Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/51530599-78/bridges-percent-utah-state.html.csp?page=1

America's Safest State Bridges

1. Nevada, 2.2 percent.

2. Florida, 2.4 percent.

3 (tie). Texas and Arizona, 3 percent.

5. Utah, 4.5 percent.


On a sadder note. My home in Utah (South Davis County) now has the biggest collection of unsafe and ugly bridges in the State.


Image by Salt Lake Tribune

[i-215]

Your home is filled with unsafe bridges? j/k

You can thank the Sierra Club for that. Part of the agreement the Sierra Club signed with Gov. Huntsman so UDOT could build Legacy Parkway, was a promise that UDOT would not rebuild I-15 through Davis County until after 2020. (Although I suspect the state will not be able to afford the bond until about then anyway).

Between I-15 SLC, I-80 rebuild, I-15 CORE (Utah County), We-Go (Ogden Weber Rebuild), we've demolished nearly all the bad bridges. The state is doing a great job at maintaining and expanding highways, building world-class transit, all without breaking the bank.

[s.p.hansen]

Nothing definite about plans for FrontRunner going to Brigham City

Standard-Examiner
By Mitch Shaw

BRIGHAM CITY -- The Utah Transit Authority says it will extend FrontRunner from Pleasant View to Brigham City, but how and when that will happen is still up in the air.

UTA recently briefed local government leaders in Brigham City on the status of the project, noting that, right now, it exists only on UTA's long-range plan as an unfunded extension.

The long-range plan is a wish list of projects the agency would like to complete by 2030, but just because a project is on the plan doesn't mean it will be built by 2030.

UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the agency is serious about the FrontRunner extension, but the money and ridership demand just isn't there right now.

For the first line of FrontRunner, which runs from Pleasant View to Salt Lake City and came with a $611 million construction price tag, UTA shares the final six miles of track -- from Ogden to Pleasant View -- with the Union Pacific Railroad.

But for the Brigham City extension, UTA is considering an alternate course.

Rather than share the rail with Union Pacific, UTA is considering building its own line between Pleasant View and Brigham City -- a plan that would allow for more trips and better service, but that would more than double the cost of construction.

Based on a UTA study, a shared line would carry 488 riders every day with four round trips. An exclusive line would carry 688 riders every day with eight round trips.

The construction cost for a shared line is estimated at $72.3 million, while an exclusive line would cost $198.9 million. Annual operation and maintenance expenses would rise from $537,000 for a shared line to more than $1 million.

But whether it's a shared or exclusive track, UTA doesn't have the money for either right now.

The project's construction would be paid for from money being generated by an existing sales tax that UTA collects in Box Elder and Weber counties.

Box Elder would pay for 73 percent of the total cost because 73 percent of the rail would be in that county. Weber County would pick up the remaining 27 percent of the cost.

In 2009, UTA collected $1.3 million in sales tax in Box Elder County, but to build even a shared line by 2030, UTA estimates the tax would need to generate at least $3.8 million annually.

"It's still less than what we need at this point, even for the shared line," Carpenter said.

Those local costs could be lowered, though, if UTA secures federal funding.

But Carpenter said it's unknown if UTA would be able to get federal funds and what percentage of the total cost would be paid for by the those funds.

For the original FrontRunner line, federal funds covered 80 percent of the total cost of construction, while cities along the line accounted for the other 20 percent.

But UTA's current $850 million extension of FrontRunner, from Salt Lake City to Provo, is paid for entirely by local funds.

"Obtaining federal funding is a very competitive process," Carpenter said. "You are competing with projects from all over the country. Ultimately, we need to show that there is a demand for this project and people will ride it."

Brigham City Mayor Dennis Fife said it will likely be necessary to look at other sources of funding and see if the Bear River Association of Governments can help obtain grants that would kick-start the project.

Roger Jones, the executive director of BRAG, said the best option for the project would be to "wait and do it correctly" by allowing UTA to build its own line.

Carpenter said a portion of the sales tax revenue UTA collects in Box Elder County will go toward preserving corridor for the project.

"There may not be funds today to build it, but now is the time to plan for it," he said. "The bottom line is that commuter rail will go to Brigham City, but the ultimate question is when."

http://www.standard.net/topics/uta/2011/...out-plans-frontrunner-going-brigham-city

[SLCdude]

I wonder if FrontRunner could be extended further to Logan. It seems impossible since there's a mountain range between Logan and Brigham City.

I've also heard rumors of FrontRunner running as far South as Nephi.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

I've also heard rumors of FrontRunner running as far South as Nephi.

Currently Payson is the end of the line for the FrontRunner South extension on UTA's long range plan. The Provo to Payson extension will be built by 2025 if not sooner. The biggest cost for the Provo to Payson extension is another fly-over bridge just south of the Provo stop, to cross right of way with Union Pacific, similar to the fly-over bridge behind the SLCC LHM campus in Sandy.

UTA officials are working with the south UT county cities and realigning the park n ride and express busses for when FrontRunner south opens. The route will focus on a bus making the same stops, from the same locations that FrontRunner makes, maybe an additional stop or two, and will terminate at the Provo station, rather than an express bus all the way up I-15 from Payson to downtown SLC. The hope is that this will increase the express route ridership from it's current numbers because the majority of the trip will be via FrontRunner. Once UTA sees the ridership numbers they will need in order to make the Provo to Payson extension viable they will begin construction.

Many municipalities and regional planning organizations have FrontRunner extending past Payson through Santaquin and on to Nephi, as well as a loop through the Goshen and Cedar valley's reconnecting in Lehi. These extensions are however not officially on UTA's long range plan.