Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[stayinginformed]

Where should the Sugar House streetcar go, make your feelings known.

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[delts145]

Metro - Digging along Deer Valley Drive starts next week

It will be the first action of a major road and infrastructure project

Jay Hamburger - THE PARK RECORD

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_23014581/digging-along-deer-valley-drive-starts-next-week

A crew from Questar Gas is scheduled to start work along Deer Valley Drive next week, the first action in what is anticipated to be one of the major road and infrastructure projects in Park City this year.

Matthew Cassel, the Park City engineer, said the workers from Questar Gas are expected to start on Tuesday. The company will replace a section of natural-gas line in the vicinity of the intersection of Deer Valley Drive and Sunny Side Drive. The section is between 300 and 400 feet long, Cassel said.

The city engineer said the natural-gas line is buried close to the edge of the road, meaning that no lane closures are planned. A trench will be dug along the route of the line. Cassel said the work should last between seven and 10 days.

Questar Gas is funding the work. It is seen as part of the overall Deer Valley Drive redo that will be at City Hall's expense, though.

The wider project is anticipated to start in early May and involve Deer Valley Drive between the Old Town roundabout and the intersection with Deer Valley Drive North.

City Hall plans to replace a water line, work on storm drains, build bus pullouts and make pedestrian improvements, among other upgrades. The work is expected to last until mid-October. It is anticipated to cost between $3 million and $4 million, with $1 million of the total coming from a federal grant.

An open house is scheduled on April 30 for people interested in learning about the work. It is slated to start at 4 p.m. and last two hours in the Park City Council chambers at the Marsac Building.

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[SLC Projects]

Today's the day. Airport line finally opens.

[Sight-Seer]

Speaking of rebuilding roads, they need to save some money for 13th South. It needs to be totally rebuilt from State Street to the freeway. It's in terrible state. After the '83 flood, it was paved with concrete. That was long ago. All along it you can see piles of concrete chips along the side of the road. They put up some "Road Damage" signs and occasionally throw some asphalt in the pot holes. That's all. I drive on it a lot and it's wrecking my car, along with everybody elses.

[Reachforthesky]

First Airport Light rail line in the Rocky Mountain west now open in SLC!


This will make trips to the airport so much easier! No more park n' jet for me! trains all the way!




http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56152795-78/train-airport-trax-saturday.html.csp

[scottharding]

This is interesting. An article about the fares in SLC. Apparently, UTA and Summit county dropped fairs on an SLC to Park City by $1.25 and made transfers to trax free, and saw ridership soar. The article is making an argument for UTA dropping fairs system wide to see an increase in usage while not having to subsidize with more taxes.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56166154-90/park-uta-fares-bus.html.csp

[Future Mayor]

The City Council is going to be voting on the next phase of the Sugarhouse Streetcar line at next weeks meeting.

There is already a petition being circulated by the owner of BIF G in Sugarhouse, the petition is to stop the Streetcar from extending past 2100 S on 1100 East.

There are several options of how to get from the current end of the line to 21st and Highland(11th), but the biggest decision is where to take it after that. One choice is continue it up 11th E and end it at 17th S, this would serve Westminster and is a much more densely populated route, better for ridership.

The other option is to take it up 21st S past the park and end it near Highland HS. Yes it would serve the park, but other than the park that area has much lower densities, and I would expect much lower ridership and low willingness for redevelopment.

I think that 11th E is the best options, and would serve the greatest number of people. This route could also more easily be expanded in the future to connect back with Trax at 4th S, creating a very effective transportation loop.

You can make your opinion know on the open city hall website.

http://www.slcgov.com/opencityhall#peak_democracy


I had a sit down meeting with Jill Remington Love yesterday and she said that it's looking like a 4-3 vote currently on the streetcar line and that those on the 3 side are actively trying to recruit someone to switch sides, particularly her, as either option serves people in her district.

The council really does take into account the opinions of citizens, so please make your voice heard on this issue.

[Stenar]

The vote is 4-3 in which direction???

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

The City Council is going to be voting on the next phase of the Sugarhouse Streetcar line at next weeks meeting.

There is already a petition being circulated by the owner of BIF G in Sugarhouse, the petition is to stop the Streetcar from extending past 2100 S on 1100 East.

There are several options of how to get from the current end of the line to 21st and Highland(11th), but the biggest decision is where to take it after that. One choice is continue it up 11th E and end it at 17th S, this would serve Westminster and is a much more densely populated route, better for ridership.

The other option is to take it up 21st S past the park and end it near Highland HS. Yes it would serve the park, but other than the park that area has much lower densities, and I would expect much lower ridership and low willingness for redevelopment.

I think that 11th E is the best options, and would serve the greatest number of people. This route could also more easily be expanded in the future to connect back with Trax at 4th S, creating a very effective transportation loop.

You can make your opinion know on the open city hall website.

http://www.slcgov.com/opencityhall#peak_democracy


I had a sit down meeting with Jill Remington Love yesterday and she said that it's looking like a 4-3 vote currently on the streetcar line and that those on the 3 side are actively trying to recruit someone to switch sides, particularly her, as either option serves people in her district.

The council really does take into account the opinions of citizens, so please make your voice heard on this issue.

[UTPlanner]

Proposed future phases of the Sugar House Streetcar line are a very contentious issue around the City & County Building and in Sugar House itself. There are planned protests and rallies this week and next week prior to the public hearing. It is really being led by business owners along 1100 East that don't want the streetcar line there because of concerns of access during construction. It's a very short sighted view in my opinion. If you have an opinion make sure that you share it on Open City Hall. The business community I spoke of earlier are actively out working against the 1100 East alignment.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by Stenar

The vote is 4-3 in which direction???

I can't disclose that, then people might not give their opinion because they might think it is a done deal one way or the other.

I agree with you UTPlanner, it is very short sighted, I have a copy of the owner of BIF G's e-mail explaining why they don't like it, 1) the issue with surviving construction, 2) traffic will be even more backed up after the streetcar is built 3) property values will increase, making them not be able to afford rent.

Maybe it wouldn't be such an issue if they though about it this way. Streetcar will actually take some of the existing traffic of the street, because those people will now be on the streetcar, and streetcar will move many more people in the space it requires than what two or three cars move in the same space.

Streetcar can increase their business, because it will provide more visibility to those on the streetcar.

Maybe they are just worried that they won't have a place to park their three wrapped cars, once the streetcar is in place. Do you really need three wrapped cars taking up three parking spaces in front of and near your building?

[CountyLemonade]

I got the chance to ride the airport extension last night to pick someone up from the airport. Guys. It's stellar. The ride is much, much smoother on this section of track. The stations are quite beautifully designed, as is North Temple itself. The entire project looks pretty darn elegant at night. I was heartened to see a good amount of suitcase-lugging travelers already using the train on the way back (and this was after 9:30 pm). All of them were marveling at how Salt Lake is so cosmopolitan now that it has a train connecting its city center to its airport.

I was bursting with civic pride, needless to say.

[scottharding]

I need to see it at night! I rode it last Saturday when they were doing it for free, and yeah, the ride is quite nice. I was amazed at the whole transformation or North Temple. The sidewalks, the landscaping, the street lights and the Trax stations are all beautifully done. Now the development just needs to come in. There were a lot of dilapidated motels that would make great locations for TOD's.

[Reachforthesky]

UDOT gains land to complete Mountain View Corridor after 3-way deal


Land is now secure to finish the rest of the Mountain View freeway! It was a win,win, win situation!





http://www.ksl.com/?sid=24845840&nid=148...er-3-way-deal&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-5

[DCRes]

Article from the SLTrib
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56185370-90/airport-missionaries-mormon-trax.html.csp

New converts to airport TRAX: Mormon missionaries

"We are testing the FrontRunner/TRAX combination as an option to transport missionaries from the Provo MTC [Missionary Training Center] to the Salt Lake International Airport," said Scott Trotter, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Buses and vans had been used to shuttle missionaries from the MTC — where they learn languages and receive other training — to the airport as they head for assignments around the world.

But completion of the new TRAX extension to the airport this week has the Salt Lake City-based faith experimenting. It is sending some missionaries from Provo to Salt Lake City on the new FrontRunner commuter train, which was completed in December, where they can transfer to the new airport TRAX line.

"We are using FrontRunner to transport missionaries from the Provo MTC to the Salt Lake and Ogden missions," Trotter said.

[H4vok]

It looks like the UTA is finally working on a new transit system map design. Somebody (somebody on here?) posted their own version of the transit map to UTA's twitter account and this is how they responded:

@f40phr231 @msbutah Nice work! I talked with our graphic artists and it turns out we're in the process of developing a new system map.

Maybe there is hope after all! Finger's crossed.

[downtownslcresident]

What if we all wrote uta to encourage that they offer trail fare reductions on just one method of transport at a time? For example, If they helped the media promote that for the 3rd quarter (July, August and September) they are offering a reduction of $1.00 in the fare for a trax pass, and get the media to help them get the public excited and encourage people to take advantage of mass transit for those three months, and see what it does to ridership? If its successful and boosts ridership, enough to cover the difference in fare cost, then it could become a permanent thing?

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask UTA to give it a try. At least then they can show that they are listening to the general public opinion. They they can have more data to make a better informed decision.

Rate reduction on the PC line worked, why my see if the same is true for other lines?

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

Proposed future phases of the Sugar House Streetcar line are a very contentious issue around the City & County Building and in Sugar House itself. There are planned protests and rallies this week and next week prior to the public hearing. It is really being led by business owners along 1100 East that don't want the streetcar line there because of concerns of access during construction. It's a very short sighted view in my opinion. If you have an opinion make sure that you share it on Open City Hall. The business community I spoke of earlier are actively out working against the 1100 East alignment.

The 1100 East corridor is perfect, IMO. I think the business owners definitely have a legitimate reason to be concerned for the short term. Maybe the City and County can help those businesses in the interim. Long term though, it will be a boon to that street. Portland's street car is hugely popular, and has been the catalyst for the rise of the Pearl District. NW 23rd and 21st in the Alphabet district also has benefited from it, too. Btw, how far along 1100 east does it go north, and where does it go from there? to downtown on 200 south?

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by Orlando

The 1100 East corridor is perfect, IMO. I think the business owners definitely have a legitimate reason to be concerned for the short term. Maybe the City and County can help those businesses in the interim. Long term though, it will be a boon to that street. Portland's street car is hugely popular, and has been the catalyst for the rise of the Pearl District. NW 23rd and 21st in the Alphabet district also has benefited from it, too. Btw, how far along 1100 east does it go north, and where does it go from there? to downtown on 200 south?

Phase 2a would take it up 11th E to 1700 S. Another benefit of the 11th East alignment, as you hinted to is that allows for future connections to other areas and other transit lines (trax 4th S), as well as other more densely populated areas and destinations, 9th & 9th, Liberty Park, Trolley Square.

[billbillbillbill]

From UTA:

http://www.letsrideuta.com/2013/04/22/uta-offers-multiday-parking/

UTA is now offering extended parking at two parking facilities. Riders can now park for multiple days at the FrontRunner garage at the Draper Station and the parking garage at the TRAX Jordan Valley station.

With the recent opening of the Airport TRAX Line, UTA wanted to give travelers a convenient place to leave their vehicles as they take FrontRunner and TRAX to the Salt Lake City International Airport. In response to public feedback, UTA is allowing extended parking at these two garages on a trial basis while the agency continues to evaluate safety, security and maintenance issues inherent to providing extended parking in the system. Other UTA parking lots have a maximum 24-hour parking limit.

UTA is also studying parking policies and practices at other transit agencies that operate rail lines to airports. The agency wants to find the right balance between security and convenience, and will consider adding more multi-day parking facilities based on this analysis and the success of the extended parking at these two garages.

UTA riders can park in the lots for up to 14 days at $1 per day. A calendar month pass can be purchased for $15.

Extended parking is available at these parking garages because they feature a pre-paid parking system that allows UTA to determine the length of time a patron intends to park his or her car. The Draper and Jordan Valley parking lots are also covered, whereas other UTA parking lots must be regularly cleared of vehicles to facilitate cleaning and snow removal.

The Draper lot is located at 12997 S. FrontRunner Blvd., and the Jordan Valley lot is located at 3400 W. 8600 South. Multiday parking is available beginning today. Questions may be directed to customer service at 801-RIDE-UTA.

Would you risk it? My family is flying out in May for a 5 day trip and $5 for parking plus train fare beats $9 a day parking at the airport.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by billbillbillbill

From UTA:

http://www.letsrideuta.com/2013/04/22/uta-offers-multiday-parking/



Would you risk it? My family is flying out in May for a 5 day trip and $5 for parking plus train fare beats $9 a day parking at the airport.

If I was going to take the train to the airport, I would just leave my car at home altogether and have a neighbor or someone give me a ride to the station. I don't think I'd feel comfortable leaving my car at the train station for two weeks.