So the thing that got me designing rail corridors last month was the threat of losing the old railroad ROW that is slated to become the Fulsom Trail. In that
original post I argued that the Fulsom Trail corridor would be better off including train tracks as well, like the S-Line or Draper Extension do.
After talking with a few people involved in the planning of the Fulsom Trail, I've changed my mind. I had understood that the trail would be similar to the 9-Line trail, which is a bike trail on top of an old railroad grade with a few aesthetic improvements along the sides. The reality is that, over the course of a few 'phases,' the Fulsom Trail is going to be much more than that. There are plans to daylight City Creek through those blocks, creating almost an off-shoot of the Jordan River Trail in terms of wetland, urban forest, playgrounds, and public open space. It will be a major big-deal, and after my conversations with the planners I'm super excited about it.
Long story short, I've redesigned my hypothetical east-west line through that area. I had been concerned about knocking down buildings next to the existing railroad tracks, but it turns out that whole area is going to get redeveloped from a blank slate anyway so my caution was really not needed.
Here are some screenshots from the Google Map:
The
blue line is obviously City Creek. The spot where it reaches the Jordan River in this picture is the spot where it currently exits from its underground pipe. The
brown line is the pedestrian trail, and the
green outline is the minimum extent of the park area. The new arch bridge is not yet included in the Google image, but the trail would have to rise up about 25 feet in the air in order to tie-in with the bridge.
The orange line is a Union Pacific track relocation, which will make room for the east-west commuter line tracks to cross over the Union Pacific tracks with a flyover structure. In the last design the flyover bridge continued east along the Fulsom corridor, but in this new plan the bridge curves north to eventually become parallel to the Union Pacific tracks.
Moving eastward:
This picture will be had to explain... I've moved 10th and 9th West streets onto viaducts to completely grade-separate them from both the railroad tracks and from the trail/creek. Both of these bridges will be wide enough for two traffic lanes, two bike lanes, and two sidewalks. At ground-level, one through-lane (shared for bikes and cars) and a sidewalk will remain to provide access to local properties.
I picture these elevated bridges being built as solid structures, leaving no space underneath for homeless camps. I also picture them to be covered eventually with vines/vegetation, so that graffiti won't be a problem. Basically, imagine the North Temple viaduct, but much narrower.
Grade-separation is important for three important reasons:
1) Train Traffic - there is going to be a lot more train traffic with the east-west commuter line, and the two Union Pacific tracks are already very busy. The single Garfield & Western Railway track is used for freight switching, and trains often stop in these crossings on that track and block traffic.
2) Pedestrian Safety - if the area is really going to be redeveloped with apartments and town homes adjacent to the green space, pedestrians will need safe ways to cross the railroad tracks. Climbing through freight cars is unacceptable. It will also separate the pedestrian trail from these two streets, making the trail much more enjoyable to trail users.
3) Bridging the creek - if the creek is going to be daylighted, it would be nice to keep it in the open the entire length of the daylighting project. Bridges will be needed over the creek anyway, so why not make the bridges big enough to include the trail as well? I'm thinking something like the tunnel at Logan's Central Park, where the creek and the trail share a passage underneath a busy city street:
And if you think that two viaducts are a little crazy, just wait until you see what I'm thinking of as we go farther east...
I've proposed completely closing 800 West between South Temple and the Fulsome Trail. It is not a busy street and could not possibly justify its own bridge, so it's better to get rid of the at-grade crossing altogether. In its place a dedicated pedestrian bridge will cross over the tracks parallel to I-15.
The relocation of one Union Pacific Track to make room for the East-West commuter rail tracks is still there, but I've moved everything over slightly more. I've done the measurements through this area, and even though it will get a little tight, there is room for 1 freight track, two transit tracks, and an 8-foot wide pedestrian area between the existing bridge columns. The sharper turn will make trains travel a little slower through that area, but since everything west of that curve will be grade-separated it will have no effect on vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
I've continued the Fulsom Trail southward from here so that it goes directly to Salt Lake Central Station and 2nd South. It will be a very direct trip from the Jordan River Trail to downtown.
I've also gone a little crazy with the area between the tracks... I've created the Grant's Tower Railfan Park!
Gran'ts Tower is the name for that railroad interlocking, back when it was the meeting place for the Union Pacific, Western Pacific, and Rio Grande railroads. Union Pacific has since bought the other two railroads and streamlined the infrastructure in the area (with monetary help from the UTA so that FrontRunner could be made to fit) and the tower itself is sitting abandoned just west of the Gateway. I propose turning the unused space in the center of the triangle into a railfan park, so that people will have a decent public space to use to watch and learn about trains.
Railfan Parks are becoming more and more common in railroad towns across the country. They usually include all the features of a park, including green space and playgrounds, but also include at least one raised platform where it is easy to look at and take pictures of the passing trains:
In my plans, the two brown areas at the tips of the triangle are intended to be train-viewing platforms. The north platform would be the more popular, since it would be squeezed between the Union Pacific mainlines and the FrontRunner tracks. There are already about 100 trains a day that pass that point, and if FrontRunner frequencies really do double, it will be possible to see as many as 150 trains in a day at that location. That would make it one of the busiest railfan parks in the entire country. The park itself could become something of a destination on its own, bringing in railfan tourists from around the country.
There are other nice touches that can be included too, like speakers broadcasting radio scanners set to railroad operations frequencies so that people can know when trains are coming. Some other parks include displays of history in the area, or parked cabooses or freight cars to climb on/house displays.
Since there would obviously be a fence enclosing the park to keep people off the tracks, the railfan park could be physically closed off during the night to keep it free of vandals and vagrants. Closing the park would also mean that the park itself could include nice things that wouldn't need to be vandal-proof, making it more like a museum.
I feel like, in becoming and advocate for a park in the middle of this rail triangle, I have come full-circle... I remember
laughing about a similar plan some years ago, thinking that no way would there ever be any lakes or green space in that area:
Well, times do change.
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