Quote:
Originally Posted by Future Mayor
Maybe a very long long long way down the road Santaquin may get Front Runner. This vote would be for UTA Busses to service Santaquin. Currently the end of the UTA line for commuter busses is the 800 S exit in Payson. Front Runner is slated to eventually terminate its service at 800 South in Payson as well. The location of the station has been identified and the land directly to the south is under the control of one owner, who is envisioning a a TOD in the area and Payson City has adopted a TOD Overlay zone which has been applied to the area. UTA's Right of Way currently ends at 800 S Payson.
As for Santaquin getting Front Runner, it could happen but UTA's most recent discussion with Payson officials (formerly me) is that Front Runner to Payson will be completed by 2025 at the latest and depending on demand, calculated from express buss service from Payson to Provo terminus could jump that time line sooner. I would anticipate that Santaquin, Mona, and Nephi along with the goshen valley to the west of Santaquin and Payson is going to have to grow substantially before UTA takes a look at and southward expansion. Bus service is a good place to start though.
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The issue of not owning the right of way is hardly damning the future expansion of UTA rails into Santaquin (aquring that right of way only takes a couple of years). My mom worked as a paralegal for the lawyer at Snell and Wilmer who negotiated UTA's purchase of the right of way from Union Pacific.
Also, my grandfather and uncle (long time Santaquin residents) were at the meeting UTA held in regards to the annexation of the city into the bus system and it was made clear that UTA did have plans to bring Front Runner to Santaquin with the future stop being located near the second I-15 exit. The interesting thing my grandfather told me is that they were told in the meeting that UTA would actually have to lay a totally new line because the old rail line is in a horrible location (it literally moves away from the freeway and curves many times around various flat areas of farms because it used to be a chore for some trains to get over the steep incline in the more direct and straight path).
I do think it will be some time before the line extends beyond Provo, but it will not stop at Payson when that expansion is made.
P.S.
I went back and kindly edited the part of my post that quoted your post so as to correct the spelling of Santaquin.