As reported by Isaac, Stadler will be building their permanent plant in Salt Lake City, near the interchange of 5600 West and I-80. This is sort of sad for Clearfield, but not really. The land near that FrontRunner station was always better suited for residential TOD, which in time they will almost certainly get. It's also good news for me and anyone who enjoys my pictures, since now I will be able to go out there on regular bike rides and see what's up. It's also fantastic to hear that Stadler will officially be staying in Utah, even though we knew it probably would be for some time now. This greatly increases the probability of UTA upgrading FrontRunner to double-track electrification and stadler EMU's, since it is now a political issue: "Put Utahans to work building trains for Utah!"
I will miss fun pictures like this one, though (not mine), of a UTA FrontRunner locomotive pushing a Stader Flirt through the train-wash at Warm-springs: https://www.globalrailnews.com/wp-co...RT-696x392.jpg And to finish, here is a picture I did take, of the Jordan River Parkway bridge construction; the trail is paved up to the bridge ramps (except for the railroad crossing) and the bridge span has been completed so that it is no longer resting on the temporary shipping-container support. However, no work has been done on the arch structure, meaning it will probably be quite a while before the bridge is open to the public. https://i.imgur.com/wuM4xJi.jpg?1 |
Time for the weekly update on my favorite bridge!
The arch is up, and railings are being installed along the length of the span. Things are looking very good. The image is too large to post here, but here's a link: https://i.imgur.com/P7Zek3r.jpg As I continued my ride on the Jordan River Parkway, I found that there is another bridge project on the same trail also happening in Salt Lake City - this time near Indiana Avenue, where a wide pedestrian bridge is being built to replace using the narrow sidewalks on the Indiana Avenue bridge. https://i.imgur.com/V0Gpd4H.jpg?1 It's like Christmas in October! |
Just FYI to everybody, you can resize pictures within imgur. Just click on the image within your album and click "edit image" on the bottom. You can edit the dimensions of the picture from there.
|
:previous:
You can also add an "s" for "small," and "m" for "medium," an "l" for "large," or an "h" for "huge" (more like a large) at the end of your picture's url, but before the .jpg. Like this: https://i.imgur.com/V0Gpd4Hs.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/V0Gpd4Hm.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/V0Gpd4Hl.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/V0Gpd4Hh.jpg?1 |
Thanks guys. Those are good tips. I'll get started right away. :tup:
Here's that picture I said was too large to post, in 'huge' size: https://i.imgur.com/P7Zek3rh.jpg The pictures will remain full-size in the Imgur albums that I have linked at the bottom of my posts. |
Hey everybody,
Remember how I've always pointed to the 400 South & Main interlocking as the main reason we haven't seen more movement on the TRAX Black Line? It looks like that won't be an excuse any longer, as that project is included as part of the $88.5 million UTA seeks to borrow for maintenance: Quote:
I sincerely hope that when they rebuild that interchange that they do it right. If recent rebuilding projects are any indication, then it looks promising that they will do it correctly. For those unaware, that interlocking was built 'on the cheap' in order to be done for the Winter Olympics. The University line opened only six months before the Olympics, and it was expected for the interlocking to be rebuilt afterward into a full four-way interlocking so that trains could continue down 4th South and then on to the airport. That would have created the two lines of the originally-promised system - one from the Delta Center south to Sandy, and another from the University of Utah west to the airport. These would have intersected at the 4th South & Main interlocking, which would have been the main hub of transit in Salt Lake City. Then FrontRunner came along and threw that plan out of wack. The TRAX line to the Intermodal Hub extended from the Delta Center rather than from the 4th south interlocking because 1) it was cheaper and 2) both the Red and Blue lines (as they existed in 2008) could use it. Then, when the airport line was actually built, it tied into the TRAX network at the Arena Station, trashing any need to build the second half of the 4th South line. There was some idea for a while that if UTA and the local governments could buy the Union Pacific Depot and make that the downtown stop for FrontRunner/Amtrak, then UTA could extend the 4th South line out to about 5th West, turn north to the back of the Union Pacific Depot and stop next to the FrontRunner platforms, then continue directly west beside the railroad tracks for a high-speed route directly to the airport. But alas, things went differently. Here's some fun historical reading; LINK. It isn't really a source for any of my statements, but it shows just how hard it was to build TRAX at all in the first place. Anyway, as a result of building the 4th south interlocking to be temporary, UTA built it so that one switch motor controls both sets of tracks. So when a train is turning right from 4th south (heading west) onto Main Street (going north), both tracks (eastbound and westbound) get switched in that way. So a train headed south on Main Street cannot go through the switch at the same time, even though the right-turning train never actually crosses in front of it. It is super inefficient and blocks any possibility of the Black Line ever working well. So here is my hope: UTA rebuilds the switches to allow each track to operate independently. This will allow the interlocking to work flexibly enough to accommodate the Black Line along with the other three lines. I have every confidence that UTA is planning to do just this, because in addition to allowing the Black Line to operate, it allows UTA to run the existing three lines with increased flexibility as well - meaning fewer delays to existing service. I cannot understate how important this rebuild will be. |
oh dear lord. UTA is having the public name the Provo - Orem MAX line. Who's ready for the Moroni MAX?
I love the list of buzzwords they included in the article. You can vote here for your own choice. I put in Happy Valley MAX. In reality I think they should have just stuck with the Provo - Orem MAX or TRIP or something idk. |
Bussy McBusface
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Since there is already a train and a horse with that name (and of course the boat), it seems inevitable that there will one day be a bus named Bussy McBusface, so why not have it here in Utah?
But that's just for a vehicle, not the system. So, in my usual way of overdoing things, I set out to create acronym name for the line using the following initials: Y-BYU U-UVU P-Provo O-Orem N-Novel M-Malls (University and Towne Center) C-Center Street S-Stadium R-River Trail T-Transportation B-Bus And here's what I got: 8-Letters: POSTBURN 7-Letters: COBNUTS, COUNTRY, CRYPTOS, SCROTUM 6-Letters: BOUNCY, CRUMPY, CRUMBY, MUTONS, SNOUTY, SPORTY, TRUMPS, SPRUCY, CRUSTY, etc. None of these are very good. :( |
Quote:
I was thinking they should call it Utah Transit Express Service, which should go over really well in Utah Co. ;) |
Quote:
|
PORT
Provo Orem Rapid Transit |
Parley's Trail from Tanner Park to Surgarhouse Park is now complete. It is, as I expected, a very loud place to ride a bike (the freeway can be absolutely deafening) but it is also very fast and very awesome. I love it. Here are my pictures:
Starting at the top, from Tanner Park https://i.imgur.com/UBKLZBBh.jpg The SLC skyline in the distance: https://i.imgur.com/WF5SMiwh.jpg The first bridge. The entire trail is grade-separated - not a single crosswalk to be negotiate. https://i.imgur.com/zXdGosFh.jpg There is also an underpass: https://i.imgur.com/RYHUrqTh.jpg I wouldn't have thought that the are between the private properties and the noise walls could be attractive in any way - but surprisingly, they are. It can be a very pleasant place to ride: https://i.imgur.com/1EfHO0mh.jpg The second bridge, at the end of the rainbow: https://i.imgur.com/nArs3UIh.jpg Now, two more projects: The pedestrian bridge on the Jordan River Trail near Indiana Avenue in Salt Lake City is now complete. The Parkway no longer shares the narrow sidewalks to cross the river. It is wide, smooth, and very nice: https://i.imgur.com/JXLN9lIh.jpg The bridge over the railroad tracks is getting very close to being open too. The trail all the way up to the bottom of the bridge has been completed on the south end too: https://i.imgur.com/BkQH1Wmh.jpg Once that bridge opens there will be only one big bike trail project nearing completion in Salt Lake County - the Mountain View Corridor trail, which should also be awesome. I have no idea when that will open, but I'll be sure to keep everyone updated! |
I jogged the new Parley's trail this weekend, from Sugarhouse up to Tanner's and back. I agree it is loud, especially right off of 17th E. by the tennis club; deafening for sure. Some other places aren't as bad. It's not bad overall and will probably work well for bike commuting purposes for some people. With more vegetation filling in over the years is should become nicer and nicer.
|
I think this would be a well used street-car line, geared toward the local population, with more frequent stops than light-rail.
https://i.imgur.com/CWyI31fh.jpg |
That streetcar route you’ve proposed is actually almost the same as the one the city had proposed... with the exception it turns north on state street, then runs east on 100 south instead of 200 south. That way it distances itself from 4th south TRAX while being a block closer to the population living in the avenues.
|
That looks like one of the best bike trails I've ever seen. Aesthetically, too.
Thanks for the photo update, Hatman. |
All times are GMT. The time now is 2:44 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.