Quote:
Originally Posted by delts145
Funding for airport TRAX approved
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700248593,00.html
Funding for a TRAX line to the airport is finally secured.
...Overall, the council was on board with the agreement, which passed with an 8-1 vote. But most of the council members didn't like the fact they were left out of the last-minute maneuverings of the Legislature.
"You guys negotiated this without us," Councilman Joe Hatch told a representative from the Utah Transit Authority and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker. "I got to admit, that seems extremely bizarre."
The city thought it had a plan to fund its $35 million commitment for the light-rail line through airport improvement funds, but the Legislature stopped that in its tracks after Delta Air Lines officials balked...
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Delts: Unbelievable! I wish someone would tell me the rationale behind the SLC Int. Airport Authority. The above story is a classic, with both the State and SLC screwing up. First, the City wants to increase user-fees at the Airport, absolutely the wrong thing to do when the airline industry is so strapped. Next, the State cuts a deal, unknown to the City, and the City winds up bearing their portion of the bill through car registration receipts, which, I learned, are supposed to be discretionary funds provided by the State to the City. What a mess!
To me, SLC Int, as far as realistic development of the region is concerned, is far more important than just about any other topic we discuss in this forum. And its importance transcends CSAs, MSAs, and even the entire State. SLC Int. is a true regional asset. What is bad for SLC Int. is bad for just about everyone in Utah, Southern Idaho, Eastern Nevada, and Western Wyoming. To have some cockamamie airport authority set the future for SLC Int. is like juggling nitroglycerin...nothing good is likely to happen.
To have the State and SLC haggling over how to pay for a mass transit connection to the airport is ridiculous. I don't even want to think about how to pay for the necessary expansion and renovation of SLC Int.
The Southeast is a good example of how important an airport is to a region. Next to air-conditioning, nothing has helped the expansion and development of the Deep South more than Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Without it, Atlanta is just another regional backwater and the whole region suffers.
Tis true the City of Atlanta does own and operate Hartsfield-Jackson. It is also true that the population of Atlanta (just over 500K according to the latest census estimates) is about the same proportion of people to those living in the Altanta Metro Area (about 5M) as that of SLC (a little under 200K) to the greater SLC Metro area (about 2.2M). But whatever the reason, the administration of the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport works (currently the world's busiest airport and has been for a long time), while SLC Int. just bumps along, from one debacle to another.
It would be easy to think that the City of Atlanta and the rest of Georgia get along. They don't! The political gap between Atlanta and much of the Atlanta Metro area is huge. Between the rest of the State and Atlanta is even worse. But when it comes to the airport, people put aside their differences and focus on what's best for the facility, not on whose ego needs to be soothed.
Maybe the woes of SLC Int. can be laid at the doorstep Rockie Anderson's relationship with the Legislature. But that's probably not fair either, considering the recent back-door deal cut between the Legislature and the UTA, ignoring SLC. In fact, I have never lost money betting on the stupidity of the Utah State Legislature, which never fails to be caught up more in demagoguery than what's best for all interests in Utah.
There is a new mayor in SLC, who appears to be doing a lot of good things. There is a relatively new governor in Utah, who also appears to be doing a lot of good things. I certainly wish the two would get together and figure out what is best for SLC Int. I would suggest inviting the Legislature to the conflab, but that would be like dribbling nitroglycerin.
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) a really quick complimentary trolley ride. School, (across the street) Theater District (2 blocks), NBA, MLB, NFL, AFL, Hockey, dining, clubs, and don't forget all the quick eating options. Just last night I walked to Playhouse Square and got take out Chinese food. My initial move back to SLC is to a house on a frontage road in Draper. Talk about going from completly walkable or transit oriented to absolutley no walkability. 
Hopefully I'll back near Liberty Park very soon.
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