Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[stayinginformed]

I walked a few miles down North Temple today to get a look at the TRAX progress. A small portion of the rail embedded red concrete has been poured at the 1950 West intersection--it looks good. I took some pictures, enjoy.

[SLCdude]

Wow! A lot has changed since I saw North Temple a couple weeks ago.

[i-215]

I purposely haven't driven that way since construction started so I could experience the full "before and after" effect.

These photo updates make excellent cheating. Thanks stayinginformed!!!

[Smuttynose1]

A little sidebar story from the Trib:

U2 concert crowd overload

Thanks to U2 concertgoers, TRAX trains appear to have set a one-day record for ridership on Tuesday: more than 60,000 people. But TRAX was too popular for its own good.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51886416-90/agency-board-business-development.html.csp?page=2
(Story on the right-hand sidebar)

[s.p.hansen]

Awesome update stayinginformed!

[stayinginformed]

Looks like once UTA said they would go over the Sandy city council to appeal the rejection of the Sandy park and ride lot to the 3rd district court, the city council decided to reconsider their decision.

Sandy reconsiders park-and-ride lot

Click on the link for the full article.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51892536-90/adjacent-board-carpenter-council.html.csp

[Orlando]

Ya, that was just suburban NIMBYism at its worst.

[SLCdude]

North Temple Update!

[s.p.hansen]

I believe this is our first coloured concrete TRAX line.

[SLCdude]

I love it!

[H4vok]

Sandy changes tracks, approves park-and-ride lot

Sandy • The Sandy City Council, in a 5 to 2 vote, reversed itself Tuesday night and voted to grant a conditional use permit to the Utah Transit Authority for a park-and-ride lot at the TRAX light rail stop at 11400 South and 400 East.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/51921186-78/sandy-council-lot-park.html.csp

[T-Stan]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

North Temple Update!

Rose colored trax line going through Rose Park?

[stayinginformed]

I like the colored concrete, I think it is much better than just plain gray. Maybe they picked that shade to replicate the colors of southern Utah? Rose Park's southern boundary is 600 North, so I guess that cannot be the reason.

[SLC Ute]

Maybe they will be calling this the "Red Line"!?

[SLC Projects]

Every trax line should have a colored concrete. Lets have a green colored concrete somewhere so we can nick name it "The green mile" ha ha......sorry.

[jtrent77]

I seriously hope that UTA is not coloring coding the concrete, that would be very poor planning. If in the future they ever decide to realign the system, say have WVC trains go to the U and back and Sandy trains go to the airport and back, the color coded concrete becomes a serious burden in that everything is completely messed up now.

[ski_steve]

Originally Posted by SLC Ute

Maybe they will be calling this the "Red Line"!?

Probably not, at least not yet. The University/Jordan line will be the red line (most likely). I hope UTA would change their plan to make it the University/Airport line instead.

'Although UTA hasn’t yet decided exactly what color names will go with what lines, she said, "We’re very much aware that the line to the University of Utah better be the red line."'

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51804358-90/aug-color-jordan-lake.html.csp

[stayinginformed]

I think the colored concrete is just for aesthetic value and not for color coding the lines. Though I agree with stevena07 that in the future I hope an east-west university to airport line comes about.

[UTPlanner]

Stevena07, I was wondering where you had heard that there would be a University to Airport line. I think it's a great idea but all I have heard is that the WVC line will go to the airport and that no trains will go from the University to Downtown. You will have to transfer at the Courthouse Station.

[ski_steve]

From what I have heard the original plan was to build the University/Airport line as one (from University Hospital to the airport). This was back pre-Olympic Games though. I guess they didn’t get enough funds to build the entire line as they wanted. So the plan was to finish the line after the games as one complete line. This is what I have learned in my classes. Obviously the other two new lines change things.

I did some researching and I found some snippets of information.

From the Deseret News:
Deseret News, The (Salt Lake City, UT) - December 4, 1999

Where will TRAX be heading in coming years?, Transit experts offer views on future expansion
"Long before its TRAX light-rail transit system was completed, the Utah Transit Authority was pushing Congress and the Utah Legislature to help it expand its rail network. Now planners with the Wasatch Front Regional Council are busy analyzing possible spurs into West Valley City, West Jordan and Draper. And despite a recent Salt Lake City Council vote against it, a 2.5-mile segment of a proposed airport-to-university line still could be constructed before the 2002 Winter..."

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F364FC4C7DE14DF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date&s_trackval=GooglePM


I haven't heard anything since this, so I'm assuming it will stay the University/Jordan line, and not change when the Airport line opens.