HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Transportation


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #601  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2017, 3:53 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Downtown Adj. - December 13th - Salt Lake City Int. Airport Updates Contd...

Quote:
Originally Posted by jubguy3 View Post

I'm too lazy to rehost this many photos. They will appear normally if you zoom out at 40%, sorry for the inconvenience

December 13, 2017

  • Began baggage system hanger installation
  • Continued work on enclosing the South Concourse-West, including first glass panel install
  • Started vertical work on the west tunnel, which will tie the South Concourse-West to the North Concourse-West



Photo Update



South Concourse - West steel


South Concourse - West enclosure


Terminal plaza


West tunnel tie in (this is not the central tunnel that terminates in the plazas on each end, but a tunnel in the middle of SCW that will be the only initial tunnel as the initial NCW does not extend all the way to where it meets with the central tunnel)


Central utility plant

Here is a link to the Dec 13 2017 airport advisory board agendas & minutes (pdf):

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/pd...a13Dec2017.pdf

Interesting stuff located in the AAB Agendas. I wonder if it is possible to access the report mentioned on page 7 containing information on the largest unserved markets and top 20 international O/D markets? Does anyone want to make a request to the AAB with the email linked on the agendas page at AirportRecords@slc.gov ?

The report also says that China is the largest Asian market from SLC but plans are restricted by the existing bilateral agreement and its restrictions. Nothing was mentioned about the upcoming DL/KE joint venture.
Pics By Jubguy3


.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #602  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2017, 3:59 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
BYU & UVU To Get Free BRT, TRAX & FrontRunner Passes


Collaboration among BYU, UVU and UTA aims to promote clean air and reduce traffic congestion.


Quote:
Originally Posted by DanskeUtahn View Post

UVU and BYU will be giving free UTA premium passes for employees, students, and their dependents for the next 10 years. These passes include BRT, TRAX and FrontRunner. Now we just need some of the bigger companies in the valleys to join in on the fight for breathable air.

https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-will-p...next-ten-years

BYU News - Andrea Christensen - Dec. 14th
BYU president Kevin J Worthen announced today that beginning August 2018 and continuing for the next ten years, current BYU students and employees — as well as their spouses and other dependents — will receive free UTA passes.

“This is an effort to provide a service for our campus community that will also reduce congestion and promote clean air in the valley,” Worthen said. "We're grateful to all who made this possible."

BYU’s announcement came jointly with Utah Valley University, which will also be providing transit passes for its students and employees. Combined, the two universities will provide UTA access to more than 100,000 people annually...



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatman View Post

So much good news on a Friday! Great job BYU and UVU for finally getting on the bus

And I'm continually amazed at just the FrontRunner ridership alone. 18k per day? Where do all these people fit? When I ride at rush hours there literally isn't even standing room anymore, they're going to start needing pushers like Japanese subways. Right now it ranks 10th in the country in terms of annual ridership, which is just crazy considering how many other cities UTA is beating out in terms of absolute numbers - Washington DC, Dallas, Seattle, San Diego, etc.


.

Last edited by delts145; Dec 16, 2017 at 4:21 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #603  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2018, 7:32 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Downtown Adj. - Latest Update Pics, New Multi-Billion $ Salt Lake City Int. Airport

Isaac Riddle Reports - Full Article @ http://www.buildingsaltlake.com/airp...halfway-point/



Isaac Riddle Reports - Construction of the first phase of the new Salt Lake City International Airport has passed the halfway point. The first phase consists of a new consolidated terminal, south concourse, parking garage, gateway welcome center and the recently completed rental car facility...The new airport will have over 70 gates and will be built to LEED Gold standards, making it one of the most energy efficient airports in the country. The new main terminal will be three levels and will be designed to reflect Utah’s geography, with interior and exterior materials intended to resemble the variable terrains that create a sense of place unique to Utah. Included in the main terminal will be an artificial canyon, resembling the canyons of Southern Utah...Besides rising construction costs, the ongoing construction project will require additional workers. According to airport officials, they have employed 700 construction workers so far but will eventually need up to 2,000 workers. Employing that many new workers could prove challenging as the industry is already underemployed...


Earlier Pic of the northeast corner of the west concourse of the south terminal. Image courtesy the Salt Lake City International Airport.


Rendering of the new terminal. Courtesy of the Salt Lake International Airport staff.


Rendering of the new terminal. Courtesy of the Salt Lake International Airport staff.


Rendering of the new terminal. Courtesy of the Salt Lake International Airport staff.


Rendering Overview. Courtesy of the Salt Lake International Airport staff.[/CENTER]


Quote:
Originally Posted by jubguy3 View Post

January 3, 2018 (zoom out!)

  • Began installing windows in South Concourse-West
  • Completed Central Utility Plant masonry
  • Poured concrete on Level 3 of the Parking Garage


South Concourse - West enclosure



West tunnel tie-in



Elevated roadway

Updated Airport Pics By Jubguy3

.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #604  
Old Posted Feb 1, 2018, 6:30 PM
mattropolis's Avatar
mattropolis mattropolis is offline
matt in the city
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: BC
Posts: 356
I don’t see the light rail in the rendering of the new airport terminal. Is it being moved? I’m headed to the airport today so I’m looking forward to seeing it and taking the train to downtown.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #605  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2018, 11:06 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Top Ten UDOT Projects For 2018


New lanes for I-15 'Technology Corridor' tops UDOT project list for 2018


By Lisa Riley Roche - Deseret News, https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-for-2018.html

The Utah Department of Transportation will widen I-15 to six lanes in both directions between state Route 92 and Main Street in Lehi.
The $450 million project will start this spring and will wrap up in late 2020.



https://media.deseretdigital.com/

SALT LAKE CITY — The stretch of I-15 now being called the state's "Technology Corridor" ranks No. 1 on the Utah Department of Transportation's Top 10 list of construction projects for 2018...

...The I-15 project is key to developing Utah's Silicon Slopes technology corridor that includes 700 acres at Point of the Mountain that will be freed up after the Utah State Prison moves to a site near the Salt Lake City International Airport in 2020.


The other nine projects on the list released Monday are, in order of their rankings:

• Adding a new southbound lane on I-15 from 2100 South to 12300 South, redesigning some of the southbound ramps at the 1-15 and I-215 interchange and widening 7200 South to three lanes from I-15 to Bingham Junction Boulevard in Midvale. Work on the $180 million project is also scheduled to begin this spring and expected to be completed in late 2019.

• Reconstructing I-215 in Davis County from the I-15 interchange in North Salt Lake to 2100 North and building a new diverging diamond interchange at Redwood Road and I-215. The $40 million project has been underway since February and will continue through the end of the year.

• Replacing three bridges on I-80 in Tooele County near the state Route 36 interchange: eastbound and westbound I-80 over the railroad tracks and the S.R. 36 ramp bridge. The $30 million in bridge work will begin in late spring and should be done in the summer of 2019.

• Widening Bluff Street in St. George from 100 South to Sunset Boulevard by adding a lane in each direction and turn lanes at several intersections. The yearlong, $51 million project started in January.

• Adding a new westbound lane for trucks on I-80 from Jeremy Ranch to Parleys Summit, and a new wildlife crossing at the summit, repaving I-80 from Lambs Canyon to Kimball Junction. Work on the $30 million project started Monday and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

• Extending Mountain View Corridor in Utah County from the Redwood Road and 2100 North intersection to state Route 73. The $41 million project is set to start this spring and should be done next year.

• Converting four intersections on Bangerter Highway into freeway-style interchanges, at 5400 South, 7000 South, 9000 South and 11400 South. The $201 million project is underway and due to be completed by the end of the year.

• Reconstructing state Route 9, the gateway to Zion National Park, through Springdale. The old pavement is already being removed and replaced with new asphalt, and pedestrian and bike improvements are being made. The $19 million project should be done before the peak visitor season begins later this month.

• Finishing the widening and reconstruction of state Route 108 in Syracuse from Antelope Drive to 300 North in Davis County. The $52 million project started a year ago and should be completed this fall.

There are a total of 188 UDOT construction projects scheduled across the state this year, adding up to $1.46 billion. They range from sidewalk and street installations to the major projects on the list.



.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #606  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2018, 11:08 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Utah, Salt Lake counties weighing whether to breathe new life into failed transportation tax hike

SALT LAKE CITY — More than two years ago, voters in Utah's two most populous counties rejected Proposition 1, the sales tax hike that would have brought in tens of millions for transportation projects. But now, county leaders can bring it back from the dead.

That's thanks to one of the many provisions included in the sweeping transportation bill passed by the Utah Legislature this year, which includes restructuring and renaming the Utah Transit Authority, among other changes.



FILE - A TRAX train carries passengers on Main Street in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. Ravell Call, Deseret News


The new law gives leaders in both Utah County and Salt Lake County the power to revive Proposition 1 — either by implementing the tax increase, which would raise taxes by roughly one penny for every $4 spent — through a vote from their legislative bodies, or by placing the proposed tax increase on another ballot.

Now faced with the decision to take one of those options — or do nothing — while also dealing with underfunded needs for roads and transit, leaders in both counties aren't sure what they'll do, but they plan to have the discussion over the next few weeks before the bill takes effect in May.

Because that's when the clock starts ticking.

Included in the bill is an incentive for counties to act sooner rather than later, because if the tax is implemented before June 30, 2019, counties would be able to capture 100 percent of the revenue up until that date. Afterward, the funds will be split as if the change had been passed under Proposition 1: 40 percent to UTA, 40 percent to cities and 20 percent to counties. The sales tax option has an expiration date of June 2022.

On top of that, counties wouldn't be able to implement a new 0.2 percent sales tax increase option provided in the 2018 transportation bill, which would raise at least $30 million in Salt Lake County for transit projects, until they're collecting all four of the quarter-cent increases for transportation already allowed. That option has an expiration date, too: June 2023...

.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #607  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2018, 11:52 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by Makid View Post
More Airport News:

SLC airport set another record for passengers in 2017
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...ngers-in-2017/



The biggest part of the news is the bolded part above, International Passengers increased approximately 20% year over year.

This increase in International passengers on top of the 4% increase in Domestic passengers should warrant the full build out of the North Concourse.

If the numbers for next year are even close to these numbers, I think the Airport Board should look at possibly speeding up the timing of the 3rd Concourse.

Also, what are the odds of an additional runway being added in the near future as well as an extension of the main runway to (18,000' or more) so that airlines can run higher capacity planes.
..................................
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #608  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2018, 12:00 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by i-215 View Post
Anyone catch this nugget in the Deseret News article about the terminal redevelopment project?



https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...6-billion.html

That sure sounds to me like SLC Airport and Delta have their eyes on not just a fully-built northern concourse, but perhaps *many more* concourses to the north. Perhaps it's closer to reality than we all realize?


......................................
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #609  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2018, 12:03 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by billbillbillbill View Post

Feels like it's been a while since we have seen an update. Latest posted from the SLC Airport website from March 29th.
March 29, 2018





Quote:
Originally Posted by jubguy3 View Post

That would be my fault! I stopped checking the website because I forgot. Here are the most recent updates:

March 7, 2018
  • Installed metal panels on the South Concourse-West exterior
  • Completed the Central Utility Plant roofing
  • Continued Terminal structural steel erection
  • Poured concrete on levels 2, 3 and 4 of the Parking Garage

March 21, 2018
  • Began installing conveyor belts in the Terminal Tunnel for the baggage handling system
  • Completed structural steel erection for mid-concourse tunnel tie-in to South Concourse-West
  • Continued shoring and pouring parking garage levels 2, 3, 4 and 5
  • Averaged nearly 1,160 trade contractor staff onsite

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/Up...March-2018.jpg
Aerial 3/7/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/Uploads/Picture10.jpg
Baggage handling system 3/21/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...ch-29-2018.jpg
Elevated roadway 3/29/2018. More of the cladding is visible and IMO it is a really beautiful dark brown/red color, it is a lot darker than what was shown in the renderings.

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg
Elevated roadway 3/29/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg
Elevated roadway girders 3/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg
Elevated roadway girders 3/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg
Elevated roadway girders 3/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg
SCW Tunnel tie-in 3/2018. I wonder what the tunnel tie in will look like in the final phase. Will the tunnel be flush or will the building have a "stub" that sticks out into the apron?

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...march-2018.jpg
Terminal plaza 3/2018

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg
Elevated roadway bents 3/2018



https://www.slcairport.com/assets/pd...a21Mar2018.pdf

Link to the most recent airport advisory board meeting on 21 Mar 2018.

Things of note: The project is 8 days late currently. NCW enabling construction isn't supposed to be complete until August, but steel erection has already begun at the NCW site. Passenger traffic for 2018 is forecast to reach 24.7 million PAX. Non-airline revenues increased significantly for 2018. The budget for the North Concourse expanded from 740m to 910m, which seems to indicate based on earlier articles that Delta is requesting significant upgrades to the N Concourse. I wonder if we will see a skylounge in the N Concourse? The SLCDA gave a presentation on the future 5th runway. They are either considering realigning 17/35 to match the 16/34 runways, or building a new runway to the west of 16R34L. It seemed to me like the runway to the west would require a lot of property acquisition and work to execute - I'm not sure why they couldn't move it north a few thousand feet and acquire less property / not have to deal with the I-80 / glide slope conflict. The SLCDA also gave a presentation on the concessions RFP and how they are preparing to request proposals from concessionaires.

.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #610  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2018, 11:40 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Salt Lake County Council eyeing sales tax option to bring Prop 1 tax hike back from the dead


ByKatie McKellar@KatieMcKellar1 - Published: April 17, 2018 8:58 pm - The Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-the-dead.html


SALT LAKE CITY — Faced with the opportunity to collect 100 percent of its revenue until June 2019, Salt Lake County leaders are eying their chance to revive the failed sales tax hike that would have captured about $58 million in new revenue for transportation projects had voters approved in 2015.

The Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday was briefed on the new tax opportunities provided to counties in the sweeping transportation bill passed by the Utah Legislature this year, and council members expressed interest in seeking feedback from cities and members of the public on how they should act.

The new law, along with many other provisions, gives leaders in counties that didn't pass Proposition 1 in 2015 the power to bring back the sales tax increase — which would raise taxes by roughly one penny for every $4 spent — either by implementing it through a vote from their legislative bodies or by placing it back on another ballot...



Ravell Call, Deseret News
FILE - TRAX trains carry passengers through Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018.

.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #611  
Old Posted Jun 13, 2018, 11:16 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatman View Post
I was lucky enough to participate in an engineering tour of Park City's new Electric Express route between Park City and Kimball Junction. It did not disappoint.

This route is the most heavily utilized fully-electric bus route in the United States, by a long shot. Buses leave every 15 minutes from transit centers on both ends of the line and only make two intermediate stops - one at the Canyons Resort, and one on Main Street in Park City. At Kimball Junction you can connect to UTA, via the Park City SLC Connect route, which runs more frequently than it used to but is still put to absolute shame by the Park City electric buses.

The electric buses are from Proterra, which is the bus featured in this video I linked to before:
Video Link


Here is the bus in person:



While the front of the bus kneels, the back does not. It is a pretty tall step, and seems to be screaming for a BRT-style platform.

These buses can make two full round trips on a single charge. When they do need a charge, they pull under an overhead charger, which is a pretty massive piece of infrastructure:



The bus driver pulls forward until a wireless connection is established between the bus and the charger. The bus enters a sort of 'autopilot' mode and pulls forward on its own until the bus and the cables lowered from the charger lock in place. The charge rate is something ridiculous, like 400 kilowatts (a Tesla Supercharger does only 120), so it doesn't take long to charge from a complete flat battery. However, in order to keep station stops to about 5 minutes on each end, the buses charge whenever they can and 'top off' the battery, ensuring it is always full.

At both Kimball Junction and Park City the bus stops at transit centers that have very impressive amenities, like bathrooms, waiting rooms, wifi, and pianos. Here is the inside of the brand-new Kimball Junction transit center:



The interior of the bus does not look very different than a regular bus except that it has a back window, which really helps the bus feel less closed in and claustrophobic. The driver's console looks like this:


I honestly don't know what the farebox with the dollar in it is for, because - and did I ever mention this before? - The entire Park City bus system is free to use!

The the loudest thing on the bus is wind noise, as the bus itself is very quiet when it moves. It isn't silent, as there is still lots of air conditioning and motor hum, but compared to the diesel buses it was night and day. We were able to talk to each other without shouting, and the acceleration from stops and traffic lights felt just like TRAX.

I was totally in love, guys. It was a dream come true.

But now onto the best part - Finances!

Park City did not buy the whole bus - only the bus shell, which is everything except the battery packs. Apparently the buses have eight packs, each capable of 100 kwh. The battery packs are leased directly from Proterra at a monthly rate. This is super important because it solves the purchasing paradigm problem, which is that an electric bus is much more expensive to buy but much cheaper to run. Many transit agencies aren't able to change their budgets around very much, either by law or by bureaucracy; they are stuck with a lower purchasing budget and a large operating budget.
So along comes Proterra, who are offering to sell you a bus shell cheaper than what a brand-new diesel bus will cost, because the shell doesn't have an engine. Then, you will lease the battery pack as part of your operating costs - and by the way, your operating costs will be less too, since the cost of electricity plus the cost of the battery lease is still (*slightly*) cheaper than the cost of buying diesel fuel. For the six buses used on the Electric Express route, the park city folks estimated they would usually spend $20,000 a month in fuel costs. They wouldn't tell me what they were paying for the lease+electricity costs, but they did assure me it was less.
Then there is the cost of maintenance, which is insanely cheap compared to a diesel bus since there aren't as many moving parts. Brakes don't need to be changed as much because an electric bus uses its motor to brake, which harvests kinetic energy into electric-potential energy. The bus driver I spoke with said if he leaves Park City with a full charge he can get nearly to the end of the route at Kimball Junction without loosing a single mile of range because of the dynamic braking.

It was also mentioned that replacing parts is really easy to do. Swiching out an engine is a process that takes a week in the garage - but switching an electric motor can be done in an afternoon. The time savings alone save many hundreds of dollars in wages and mean that fewer buses are needed in a fleet because the 'down-time' of the buses will be far less.

So all of this put together means that we're already there guys - electric buses are cheaper than diesel buses, from purchasing to operating and maintaining!

There is only one concern left with switching to electric buses, and that is the large overhead chargers. Right now Park City has two of the chargers, and each of them costs a half million dollars each. They realized that this is unsustainable, so their next order of buses is for buses with a longer range.

Their current fleet of short-range buses consists of 6 buses, 4 of which are in service during of-peaks and five during the peaks, with one bus on standby. In a typical 18-hour day each bus travels 320 miles. The new buses park city has ordered will be able to travel 250 miles on a charge, meaning that they will be able to travel for most of the day without needing to be 'topped off'. The two standby buses will be able to rotate into and out of service as needed. All charging will be done at the maintenance garage using conventional high-voltage cables, not super-expensive overhead chargers. Rocky Mountain Power is eager to install these conventional chargers, and will pay 75% of the installation costs. Apparently this is a general offer - if your office would like to install electric vehicle charging stations, Rocky Mountain Power will pay a fair chunk of the installation costs, since they know full well that you will be paying them for the electricity coming out of the chargers.

My last piece of info comes from the UTA folks who were invited to the event as well - They said that they've got some Proterra buses on order too, and that they will study them for future full-fleet adoption. The last electric buses they tried on the Provo-Orem BRT route - the New Flyer and BYD models - didn't have strong enough motors to handle a full load going up University Parkway or 900 East in Provo, so they are skeptical that the Proterra buses will be any different. The Park City folks really let them have it, saying if an electric bus could go up Park City hills it could do anything in the valleys. It was a joy to listen to that exchange.

Anyway, it sounds like the electric revolution is happening quickly here in Utah. UTA is an above-average transit agency in their progressive planning, but Park City is absolutely amazing. It is astounding what can happen when a small community of millionaires prices out the lower classes and creates a transit system. They really are leading the way in a lot of areas, and I think they are dragging UTA along behind them at a reasonable rate. Let's hope that UTA loves their electric buses as much as Park City loves theirs.
...........................................
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #612  
Old Posted Jul 4, 2018, 2:07 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Salt Lake City gives rail-car firm 20-year, $9.6 million development deal to construct manufacturing plant and create 1,000 jobs

A first-of-its-kind Salt Lake City development incentive to help a Swiss rail-car maker build and staff a manufacturing plant with 1,000 employees won city approval Tuesday...Stadler Rail plans a nearly 1 million-square-foot plant to be built in four phases on a 63-acre site near 5600 West and Interstate 80 in the city’s northwest quadrant. Under the agreement with the city’s Redevelopment Agency, the firm will receive increment financing to support construction of roads, utilities, a test track for rail cars and a rail spur...


(Al Hartmann | Tribune file photo) Stadler company officers and Utah leaders tour one of Stadler's new TEXRail trains. The company broke ground for a new Stadler plant at 100 S. 5600 West in Salt Lake City, Oct. 13, 2017. Stadler US is an affiliate of a Swiss rail-car-manufacturing company. The project has received a tax incentive from the Governor's Office of Economic Development, which anticipates it will result in the creation of many new, high-paying jobs.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Makid View Post

Stadler of Switzerland New Rail facility images:







*Images are taken from the SLC Economic Development Facebook page. No other credit is found for the images.

It is located at 150 South 5600 West - new roads, utilities, test track, and manufacturing plant with office building will all be located there. There is also room for expansion when needed.
.................

Last edited by delts145; Jul 4, 2018 at 2:40 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #613  
Old Posted Jul 6, 2018, 6:19 AM
N830MH N830MH is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 2,967
Any news construction photos at new SLC airport?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #614  
Old Posted Aug 20, 2018, 10:49 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatman View Post
I got to ride the UVX!

Here is what I saw...

(long, gushing post alert...)

The first amazing thing that happened today was that the FrontRunner train I took to Orem had 4 bombardier cars and no comet car:


Either UTA is having a shortage of comet cars right now or they are using Saturday to test a 4 car consist for Bombardeir cars. For all stations north of Salt Lake Central (except North Temple), this will result in the bombardier closest to the locomotive stopping at the low platform, creating a step up of 16 inches (24 inch car floor height minus the 8 inch tall low platforms). I think that is too high to be considered safe in public, so I wonder how they dealt with that problem. The funny thing is that these cars are actually designed to stop at low platforms; the metal grating between the car and the platform is usually mounted eight inches lower so that it can be used as a step (creating two eight inch steps):



It only occurred to me today that UTA could buy more bombardeir cars and assign some of them to be 'low platform cars' by mounting the step where everyone else in North America does. This way UTA could extend the low platform section of the platforms to be like Ogden and Salt Lake Central and not need to reconfigure all their stations (since extending the high block portion of the platform would require at least one pedestrian access per station be moved). Perhaps this could be a test of such an idea? After all, it doesn't surprise me that ridership seems to have peaked - there is litterally no more capacity during rush hours! UTA needs to add more cars! ideally you would add more frequency, but since that will take many years to be possible (double tracking, etc), this is the first thing UTA will need to do.

Anyway, I was supposed to be talking about the UVX.

I got on the bus in Orem, and my first impression was that UTA had made things very easy - signs everywhere to make sure no one got lost. That's strangely proactive of them.


Here is my first view of the bus:


The bus platforms here were finished in 2012, back when UTA had thought that they would use buses with a 15 inch tall floor. The buses they actually bought have a 14 inch tall floor, so one of the main concerns had been wheelchair and stroller access via the deployable bridge plate. As you can see the plate does have to rise up to meet the platform, but due to some clever platform grinding and precise 'docking' by the bus, this isn't really that big of a deal:


The inside of the bus, from the back row:


One of the neat features of these buses is that they are diesel electric hybrid buses, meaning that the diesel motor powers only a generator, and that generator sends the electricity to the motors that make it go. In theory this means that the diesel engine can run at a constant (more efficient) speed and let the batteries buffer the amount of energy required by (or in braking mode, produced by) the motors. This should result in a quieter ride.

In practice, though, I couldn't tell the difference. The engine revs up and down as the bus accelerates and decelerates (I thought I was feeling engine braking, but that can't be right - can it?), and though I'm sure if you had a decibel meter with you it would be obvious that the bus was quieter than other buses... but in practice it still felt too loud to talk to the people next to me without raising my voice.

And the buses certainly aren't as zippy as the electric buses they've got in Park City. I mean I really could feel the bus accelerating - this is especially true in the back section, since the driver begins to accelerate out of curves when he/she has exited the curve but the rear portion has not - but it wasn't anything amazing. If I hadn't been expecting it, I would have missed it.

And boy, did the hill east of UVU cause us a problem! It may have been the speed limit being low, but it felt like the bus was working as hard as it could to grind its way up the hill. At the top were a bunch of UVU students at a local bus stop, and when the UVX crawled past them they threw up their hands like 'Whaaat?" because they thought that the bus was slowing down for them. Perhaps more outreach about where the UVX stops and where it does not is in order.

But let's jump back a bit, all the way to the UVU stations. They are open, but not the part below the canopy. Instead, you get off on the sidewalk beside the canopy, which is still fenced off.
Westbound (which, now that I look at it, seems to be open after all):


Eastbound:


These are looking good. I heard the goal is for these to be done before the students return, and I think there is a fair chance that they'll make it.

But getting to these stops felt like it took forever. The promised signal priority is obviously not yet in effect, as all three left turns (out of the station, onto University Parkway, off of University Parkway) all took well over a minute to complete as we sat in the left-turn lane waiting for the endless stream of cars to go by. This is an issue that will not be fixed until 'Phase 2' is completed, which will apparently build a BRT/HOT-lanes bridge over I-15 directly from UVU to Orem Central Station. I wonder how fast that will come? I can see students choosing to simply walk to the FrontRunner station from campus on the new pedestrian bridge, whenever that opens, since the circuitous bus ride will take at least as long as that.

After UVU, the buses make another left turn (sigh) onto University Parkway. I had been prepared to see stations being far from completion, but I was completely surprised to see that the pavement of the road was also not yet competed! The top layer of asphalt has not yet been placed, not in the bus lands and not in the inner mixed traffic lane! Amazing!
Also, the stations in this section have not yet had their platforms poured; the pipework you can see is the snowmelt tubing that will be encased in the platform slab once that is poured:


(And obviously the pavement beside the stations will be concrete, but the lanes themselves beyond the stations will be asphalt, which as I said still needs another layer added to it.)

That picture is of the 400 West station, now called the Lakeview Station (and labled as 390 West by some overzealous engineer who probably rounds to 5 decimal places... c'mon! if the station can only be accessed at the intersection of 400 West and University Parkway, it is functionally located at 400 West! Nobody cares about the exact spot at which you physically board the bus!)... Here is the Main Street station (infuriatingly labeled as "10 East University Parkway" (!!!) ):



Riding the bus along this section of road is - for the present - exactly the same as riding the old 830 route. The bus is stuck in traffic more often than not because it needs to pull out of traffic to get to the curb, then fight its way back into traffic when the stop is completed. The funny thing is that because the UVX buses are 20 feet longer, the back door opens up onto landscaping instead of the concrete pad designed for the local 40-foot buses. The landscaping is brand new and was completed as part of the PROTRIP project, so well done getting the trees and grass planted before completing something as important as, say, the actual bus route. What's funny is that people line up at the doors to get off at each station, including the back door that doesn't fit - then when the doors open and they are presented with an eight-inch step down into fresh woodchips and tree branches, there is a mad rush up to the middle door, and this happens every time. Upon reflection, I guess we should have designed the 'local' stops to be able to comfortably accommodate the longer bendy buses, since who knows when the platforms will have a catastrophic accident and need to be taken out of service for a while? It's something to think about for next time.



Inside the bus is this awesome map, and I think it is the best map UTA has yet created. You see how each stop has little boxes beside it? Those are all the local bus routes you can transfer to at each stop! ImaJem, if you're still out there, your suggestion has been taken seriously! And since this map is held in place by the two brackets, it can easily be replaced after each new Change Day. Seriously, FrontRunner and TRAX really need something like this. The FrontRunner maps are already outdated since they still show Pleasant View, so now is a good time to change to this new bracket-mounted-transfers-included map scheme, just sayin'.

Also, as you can see, the UVX route currently runs only as far as Provo Central Station. at that point the buses terminate and go back to Orem, while a separate route called the 'East Bay Shuttle', which is also free, serves the south section using normal 40-foot buses. Not the most ideal solution, but until the UVX buses can get out of the traffic, I doubt UTA has enough of them to run the full route yet.

Also inside the bus are these cool new vertical bike racks, which are spring-loaded and adjustable and so much more stabilizing than the vertical racks they have in the S70 TRAX cars:


I love it, and these ought to become standard in MAX (BRT) and TRAX.

Here is the view zooming down the hill into Provo on the newly-widened 8 lane (!!!) (if you include the two bus lanes) University Parkway. The bridge creates quite a pinch-point, but in the end (and with lots of retaining walls) everything just fits. The bus lanes here are done, at least.


The westbound station at the BYU Stadiums:


It's not open yet, but it is getting close. These side stations will probably open before the other University Parkway stations, possibly even before Students return to class. Fun fact, the bike lane jumps up onto the sidewalk at this location and runs behind the station, meaning the cyclists don't need to worry about getting pinched between the big 60-foot buses and the platforms.

Here is the MTC (or rather, BYU North Campus) station:


And now my favorite station - the BYU South Campus station!


It is my favorite because UTA was the boldest here about fitting its station into the tightest possible space. It is a really elegant solution and is far better than the stop a block and a half farther east. See, BYU? BRT can fit in on your campus, if only you let it! These stations are no where near getting competed though, so I imagine they will open later than the two north BYU stations.

And now the one part of the BRT line that actually operates like a BRT line! 700 North probably did not need to have its own bus lanes, since those are really only important where traffic is bad, such in downtowns. As it is, cars will probably be passing the buses along this stretch. It was important, however, to put bus lanes here so that at least 51% of the route had its own lanes, since that is the threshold at which federal funding becomes available. The UVX is exactly 51% exclusive lanes, thanks in part to some shenanigans allowing the bus pullouts at each side station to be classified as exclusive lanes, even though they really aren't... but whatever gets the paperwork filled, so be it.

Here is the 700 North Station, now called Joaquin (and marked as 424 East on the map - just say 400 East!)


I love how, between the guitar guy and the paper taped to the station column, it already feels like a used and very public place. And its less than a week old!

The gap between the bus and the platform is a pretty substantial gap:


I wonder if UTA hasn't yet installed the 'wear boards', which will help close the gap and would be the rubbing surface in the event of a bus getting too close to the station. As it is right now, you better take a very long step.

This obelisk appears to have a screen in it:


I actually don't know what all the features of the platforms will be, so perhaps I am wrong and this will be just a static sign for the station, but it would be sort of cool if this was where the digital message board went.

Passing an opposing bus while in the dedicated lanes:


I decided to get off at the 300 North station and walk down University Parkway, since the bus just running in mixed traffic. Here is an example of a temporary UVX station, with the bus caught in traffic immediately beyond it:


An amazing amount of work still needs to be done on this street. In many places, all the pavement is still ripped up. Signal mast arms haven't been installed yet, let alone the traffic signals:


From what I observed, the traffic signals for the buses are already working, showing the white horizontal and vertical bars beside the conventional red, yellow, and green lights for the regular traffic. I'm not sure in which scenario the buses would ever get their own 'go' light (vertical bar), but that functionality is already there.

It's also worth noting that in these sections where the buses have their own dedicated lanes, everything between the sidewalks - and in many cases, including the sidewalks - had to be completely rebuilt. The road surface, the gutters and drainage, many utilities had to be relocated, and of course all the landscaping. Everything. This project was so much bigger than bus lanes it is sort of ridiculous. This is why am not optimistic that dedicated bus lanes will soon be taking over the salt lake valley - it has taken far too many years just to get these 5+ miles of lanes built in Provorem! Bus Plus is the way to go except in downtowns (which this was, so it had to be done).

A temporary pedestrian push-button pole at the corners of Center Street and University Avenue, awaiting a permanent one to be installed (no signs yet of that):


The center street station (marked 12 S University Avenue (!?!) ):


A large new apartment complex on University Avenue, with future bus lanes in the foreground. These are obviously built because of the LDS temple (yes I will still abbreviate that!), but they certainly won't hurt the BRT's ridership:


Panoramic shot of the second crossing of State Street, at University Avenue and 300 South. It is such a hugely massive thing it makes even me scared:


A UVX bus docked at Provo Central:


The gap when a bus docks on the north side:


It isn't easy to line up the bus after making that hard left turn, so that gap is going to be wider on this side. Strangely, even though this is another 15-inch tall platform from 2012, this platform seems to be perfectly level with the 14-inch tall bus floor. Weird.

The bus from two pictures up, plus the bus I arrived on, queuing up to make the northbound trip:


Note the wood beams placed at the bottom of the platform. These are what the wheels are meant to rub against so that the buses don't grind against the concrete.

Also at Provo Central is the 'test build' site, where samples of the stations were constructed so that managers could get a feel of what the finished project would look like. I think it will look very different once the tan paint gets applied everywhere:


One last bonus shot of the Town Centre Boulevard station under construction. It is much closer to being done than last time, and amazingly most of the landscaping is in place. If only the concrete could cure as fast as the flowers and trees can be transplanted...


***

So, that was my first trip on the UVX. I wasn't expecting much since most of it is still under construction. But man it was good to ride on that bendy bus and see how people are already using it. My buses were generally pretty full, with only a few seats to spare at any given moment, which isn't bad given it was a Saturday and the buses only ran every 15 minutes. I was very pleased to hear so many people pointing out to each other many of the same details I've pointed out in this thread - there is a whole group of people who are super stoked about this project and love it just as much as me, and that is fantastic! I love how UVX is already becoming a part of the community.

I can't wait to go back again when all the lanes have been completed and see if it really lives up to the hype. So far it does.
Great work UTA, we need more of this!
.......................................................

Last edited by delts145; Sep 12, 2018 at 3:03 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #615  
Old Posted Aug 20, 2018, 10:53 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Quote:
Originally Posted by N830MH View Post
Any news construction photos at new SLC airport?


SLC International Airport in top 10% globally for on-time performance, one of only six in U.S.

Lee Davidson - Salt Lake Tribune https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...ional-airport/

Salt Lake City International Airport has got the punctuality thing down, it seems.

It is one of only six U.S. airports — and the busiest among them — to earn a top five-star rating for on-time performance over the past year.

The airport saw 86.5 percent of its departures and arrivals occur within 15 minutes of scheduled times, according to the flight-information company OAG for the period of June 2017 to May 2018. The data include canceled flights...

...Salt Lake City is the busiest airport among five-star U.S. airports, handling 243,683 operations — takeoffs and landings — a year. Honolulu was second with 156,650.



Quote:
Originally Posted by jubguy3 View Post
Sorry I was late again. Sometimes I'm like a week late and I figure I'll lump it into the next one, and then I do it again...

April 4 2018
  • Began placing precast concrete girders—weighing 90,000 lbs. each— for Elevated Roadway
  • Received delivery of the first escalator to be installed in The New SLC
  • Continued Terminal structural steel erection and elevated deck pours
  • Removed 15,000 cubic yards of pavement on North Concourse construction site

April 18 2018
  • Began installing initial stone columns for the North Concourse. When completed, 2,900 stone columns will be installed on the site.
  • Finished roofing work on the South Concourse-West and started Terminal roofing
  • Initiated interior framing of “The Canyon” corridor portion of the Terminal
  • Started hanging lights and implemented final stages of equipment hook-up in the Central Utility Plant

May 2 2018
  • Completed exterior metal panel installation on the Central Utility Plant
  • Installed 426 stone columns on the first sector of the North Concourse; prepared to install 180 piles the coming weeks
  • Averaged 1,295 trade contractor staff on the construction site



https://www.slcairport.com/assets/Up...ay-girders.jpg

Elevated Roadway Girders April


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/Up...ne-Columns.jpg

North Concourse Stone Columns April


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/Up...C-0859z-13.jpg

Aerial View May


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...ch-29-2018.jpg

Elevated Roadway March


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...March-2018.jpg

Terminal / SCW Looking NW March


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...ril-2018-3.jpg

Stone Columns North Concourse


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...ril-2018-2.jpg

Stone Columns North Concourse 2


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...April-2018.jpg

Stone Columns North Concourse 3


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...April-2018.jpg

SCW Tunnel connection April


https://www.slcairport.com/assets/cm...April-2018.jpg

Terminal Escalator


Another board meeting happened on April 18th. They talked about the NWQ, future 5th runway, and beginning the planning process for the next airport master plan. The master plan will be completed and begin implementation in the third quarter of 2019.

https://www.slcairport.com/assets/pd...a18Apr2018.pdf
Final beams put in place at new Salt Lake City International Airport terminal


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWire View Post
Here is a link to the story on the topping out ceremony that Soulcapn was talking about. Some good pics.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/05/...port-terminal/

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Danny Guerra and his colleagues celebrate the positioning of the last steel beam, topped with a tinsel decorated tree, during a topping out ceremony at the new Salt Lake City International terminal building, Wednesday, May 23, 2018. Such ceremonies can be traced to Scandinavian rites to place a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced during Construction.



https://fox13now.com/2018/05/23/cons...jor-milestone/



.

Last edited by delts145; Aug 20, 2018 at 11:43 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #616  
Old Posted Sep 12, 2018, 9:58 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Southern Metro - Bus Rapid Transit



Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatman View Post
I got to ride the UVX!

Here is what I saw...

(long, gushing post alert...)

The first amazing thing that happened today was that the FrontRunner train I took to Orem had 4 bombardier cars and no comet car:


Either UTA is having a shortage of comet cars right now or they are using Saturday to test a 4 car consist for Bombardeir cars. For all stations north of Salt Lake Central (except North Temple), this will result in the bombardier closest to the locomotive stopping at the low platform, creating a step up of 16 inches (24 inch car floor height minus the 8 inch tall low platforms). I think that is too high to be considered safe in public, so I wonder how they dealt with that problem. The funny thing is that these cars are actually designed to stop at low platforms; the metal grating between the car and the platform is usually mounted eight inches lower so that it can be used as a step (creating two eight inch steps):



It only occurred to me today that UTA could buy more bombardeir cars and assign some of them to be 'low platform cars' by mounting the step where everyone else in North America does. This way UTA could extend the low platform section of the platforms to be like Ogden and Salt Lake Central and not need to reconfigure all their stations (since extending the high block portion of the platform would require at least one pedestrian access per station be moved). Perhaps this could be a test of such an idea? After all, it doesn't surprise me that ridership seems to have peaked - there is litterally no more capacity during rush hours! UTA needs to add more cars! ideally you would add more frequency, but since that will take many years to be possible (double tracking, etc), this is the first thing UTA will need to do.

Anyway, I was supposed to be talking about the UVX.

I got on the bus in Orem, and my first impression was that UTA had made things very easy - signs everywhere to make sure no one got lost. That's strangely proactive of them.


Here is my first view of the bus:


The bus platforms here were finished in 2012, back when UTA had thought that they would use buses with a 15 inch tall floor. The buses they actually bought have a 14 inch tall floor, so one of the main concerns had been wheelchair and stroller access via the deployable bridge plate. As you can see the plate does have to rise up to meet the platform, but due to some clever platform grinding and precise 'docking' by the bus, this isn't really that big of a deal:


The inside of the bus, from the back row:


One of the neat features of these buses is that they are diesel electric hybrid buses, meaning that the diesel motor powers only a generator, and that generator sends the electricity to the motors that make it go. In theory this means that the diesel engine can run at a constant (more efficient) speed and let the batteries buffer the amount of energy required by (or in braking mode, produced by) the motors. This should result in a quieter ride.

In practice, though, I couldn't tell the difference. The engine revs up and down as the bus accelerates and decelerates (I thought I was feeling engine braking, but that can't be right - can it?), and though I'm sure if you had a decibel meter with you it would be obvious that the bus was quieter than other buses... but in practice it still felt too loud to talk to the people next to me without raising my voice.

And the buses certainly aren't as zippy as the electric buses they've got in Park City. I mean I really could feel the bus accelerating - this is especially true in the back section, since the driver begins to accelerate out of curves when he/she has exited the curve but the rear portion has not - but it wasn't anything amazing. If I hadn't been expecting it, I would have missed it.

And boy, did the hill east of UVU cause us a problem! It may have been the speed limit being low, but it felt like the bus was working as hard as it could to grind its way up the hill. At the top were a bunch of UVU students at a local bus stop, and when the UVX crawled past them they threw up their hands like 'Whaaat?" because they thought that the bus was slowing down for them. Perhaps more outreach about where the UVX stops and where it does not is in order.

But let's jump back a bit, all the way to the UVU stations. They are open, but not the part below the canopy. Instead, you get off on the sidewalk beside the canopy, which is still fenced off.
Westbound (which, now that I look at it, seems to be open after all):


Eastbound:


These are looking good. I heard the goal is for these to be done before the students return, and I think there is a fair chance that they'll make it.

But getting to these stops felt like it took forever. The promised signal priority is obviously not yet in effect, as all three left turns (out of the station, onto University Parkway, off of University Parkway) all took well over a minute to complete as we sat in the left-turn lane waiting for the endless stream of cars to go by. This is an issue that will not be fixed until 'Phase 2' is completed, which will apparently build a BRT/HOT-lanes bridge over I-15 directly from UVU to Orem Central Station. I wonder how fast that will come? I can see students choosing to simply walk to the FrontRunner station from campus on the new pedestrian bridge, whenever that opens, since the circuitous bus ride will take at least as long as that.

After UVU, the buses make another left turn (sigh) onto University Parkway. I had been prepared to see stations being far from completion, but I was completely surprised to see that the pavement of the road was also not yet competed! The top layer of asphalt has not yet been placed, not in the bus lands and not in the inner mixed traffic lane! Amazing!
Also, the stations in this section have not yet had their platforms poured; the pipework you can see is the snowmelt tubing that will be encased in the platform slab once that is poured:


(And obviously the pavement beside the stations will be concrete, but the lanes themselves beyond the stations will be asphalt, which as I said still needs another layer added to it.)

That picture is of the 400 West station, now called the Lakeview Station (and labled as 390 West by some overzealous engineer who probably rounds to 5 decimal places... c'mon! if the station can only be accessed at the intersection of 400 West and University Parkway, it is functionally located at 400 West! Nobody cares about the exact spot at which you physically board the bus!)... Here is the Main Street station (infuriatingly labeled as "10 East University Parkway" (!!!) ):



Riding the bus along this section of road is - for the present - exactly the same as riding the old 830 route. The bus is stuck in traffic more often than not because it needs to pull out of traffic to get to the curb, then fight its way back into traffic when the stop is completed. The funny thing is that because the UVX buses are 20 feet longer, the back door opens up onto landscaping instead of the concrete pad designed for the local 40-foot buses. The landscaping is brand new and was completed as part of the PROTRIP project, so well done getting the trees and grass planted before completing something as important as, say, the actual bus route. What's funny is that people line up at the doors to get off at each station, including the back door that doesn't fit - then when the doors open and they are presented with an eight-inch step down into fresh woodchips and tree branches, there is a mad rush up to the middle door, and this happens every time. Upon reflection, I guess we should have designed the 'local' stops to be able to comfortably accommodate the longer bendy buses, since who knows when the platforms will have a catastrophic accident and need to be taken out of service for a while? It's something to think about for next time.



Inside the bus is this awesome map, and I think it is the best map UTA has yet created. You see how each stop has little boxes beside it? Those are all the local bus routes you can transfer to at each stop! ImaJem, if you're still out there, your suggestion has been taken seriously! And since this map is held in place by the two brackets, it can easily be replaced after each new Change Day. Seriously, FrontRunner and TRAX really need something like this. The FrontRunner maps are already outdated since they still show Pleasant View, so now is a good time to change to this new bracket-mounted-transfers-included map scheme, just sayin'.

Also, as you can see, the UVX route currently runs only as far as Provo Central Station. at that point the buses terminate and go back to Orem, while a separate route called the 'East Bay Shuttle', which is also free, serves the south section using normal 40-foot buses. Not the most ideal solution, but until the UVX buses can get out of the traffic, I doubt UTA has enough of them to run the full route yet.

Also inside the bus are these cool new vertical bike racks, which are spring-loaded and adjustable and so much more stabilizing than the vertical racks they have in the S70 TRAX cars:


I love it, and these ought to become standard in MAX (BRT) and TRAX.

Here is the view zooming down the hill into Provo on the newly-widened 8 lane (!!!) (if you include the two bus lanes) University Parkway. The bridge creates quite a pinch-point, but in the end (and with lots of retaining walls) everything just fits. The bus lanes here are done, at least.


The westbound station at the BYU Stadiums:


It's not open yet, but it is getting close. These side stations will probably open before the other University Parkway stations, possibly even before Students return to class. Fun fact, the bike lane jumps up onto the sidewalk at this location and runs behind the station, meaning the cyclists don't need to worry about getting pinched between the big 60-foot buses and the platforms.

Here is the MTC (or rather, BYU North Campus) station:


And now my favorite station - the BYU South Campus station!


It is my favorite because UTA was the boldest here about fitting its station into the tightest possible space. It is a really elegant solution and is far better than the stop a block and a half farther east. See, BYU? BRT can fit in on your campus, if only you let it! These stations are no where near getting competed though, so I imagine they will open later than the two north BYU stations.

And now the one part of the BRT line that actually operates like a BRT line! 700 North probably did not need to have its own bus lanes, since those are really only important where traffic is bad, such in downtowns. As it is, cars will probably be passing the buses along this stretch. It was important, however, to put bus lanes here so that at least 51% of the route had its own lanes, since that is the threshold at which federal funding becomes available. The UVX is exactly 51% exclusive lanes, thanks in part to some shenanigans allowing the bus pullouts at each side station to be classified as exclusive lanes, even though they really aren't... but whatever gets the paperwork filled, so be it.

Here is the 700 North Station, now called Joaquin (and marked as 424 East on the map - just say 400 East!)


I love how, between the guitar guy and the paper taped to the station column, it already feels like a used and very public place. And its less than a week old!

The gap between the bus and the platform is a pretty substantial gap:


I wonder if UTA hasn't yet installed the 'wear boards', which will help close the gap and would be the rubbing surface in the event of a bus getting too close to the station. As it is right now, you better take a very long step.

This obelisk appears to have a screen in it:


I actually don't know what all the features of the platforms will be, so perhaps I am wrong and this will be just a static sign for the station, but it would be sort of cool if this was where the digital message board went.

Passing an opposing bus while in the dedicated lanes:


I decided to get off at the 300 North station and walk down University Parkway, since the bus just running in mixed traffic. Here is an example of a temporary UVX station, with the bus caught in traffic immediately beyond it:


An amazing amount of work still needs to be done on this street. In many places, all the pavement is still ripped up. Signal mast arms haven't been installed yet, let alone the traffic signals:


From what I observed, the traffic signals for the buses are already working, showing the white horizontal and vertical bars beside the conventional red, yellow, and green lights for the regular traffic. I'm not sure in which scenario the buses would ever get their own 'go' light (vertical bar), but that functionality is already there.

It's also worth noting that in these sections where the buses have their own dedicated lanes, everything between the sidewalks - and in many cases, including the sidewalks - had to be completely rebuilt. The road surface, the gutters and drainage, many utilities had to be relocated, and of course all the landscaping. Everything. This project was so much bigger than bus lanes it is sort of ridiculous. This is why am not optimistic that dedicated bus lanes will soon be taking over the salt lake valley - it has taken far too many years just to get these 5+ miles of lanes built in Provorem! Bus Plus is the way to go except in downtowns (which this was, so it had to be done).

A temporary pedestrian push-button pole at the corners of Center Street and University Avenue, awaiting a permanent one to be installed (no signs yet of that):


The center street station (marked 12 S University Avenue (!?!) ):


A large new apartment complex on University Avenue, with future bus lanes in the foreground. These are obviously built because of the LDS temple (yes I will still abbreviate that!), but they certainly won't hurt the BRT's ridership:


Panoramic shot of the second crossing of State Street, at University Avenue and 300 South. It is such a hugely massive thing it makes even me scared:


A UVX bus docked at Provo Central:


The gap when a bus docks on the north side:


It isn't easy to line up the bus after making that hard left turn, so that gap is going to be wider on this side. Strangely, even though this is another 15-inch tall platform from 2012, this platform seems to be perfectly level with the 14-inch tall bus floor. Weird.

The bus from two pictures up, plus the bus I arrived on, queuing up to make the northbound trip:


Note the wood beams placed at the bottom of the platform. These are what the wheels are meant to rub against so that the buses don't grind against the concrete.

Also at Provo Central is the 'test build' site, where samples of the stations were constructed so that managers could get a feel of what the finished project would look like. I think it will look very different once the tan paint gets applied everywhere:


One last bonus shot of the Town Centre Boulevard station under construction. It is much closer to being done than last time, and amazingly most of the landscaping is in place. If only the concrete could cure as fast as the flowers and trees can be transplanted...


***

So, that was my first trip on the UVX. I wasn't expecting much since most of it is still under construction. But man it was good to ride on that bendy bus and see how people are already using it. My buses were generally pretty full, with only a few seats to spare at any given moment, which isn't bad given it was a Saturday and the buses only ran every 15 minutes. I was very pleased to hear so many people pointing out to each other many of the same details I've pointed out in this thread - there is a whole group of people who are super stoked about this project and love it just as much as me, and that is fantastic! I love how UVX is already becoming a part of the community.

I can't wait to go back again when all the lanes have been completed and see if it really lives up to the hype. So far it does.
Great work UTA, we need more of this!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #617  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2018, 2:11 AM
plutonicpanda plutonicpanda is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 623
Those bike racks are freaking sweet! I wish Metro would use those in LA on the rail system.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #618  
Old Posted Sep 15, 2018, 11:01 PM
jamesinclair jamesinclair is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 865
Great update
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #619  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2018, 10:29 AM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
September Updates - desk or laptop, use your zoom feature and reduce size.

Quote:
Originally Posted by soulcapn View Post
Lots of good update images from the SLC Airport page. Sorry, Images are big.

All images are property of www.slcairport.com. These and more can be found in the Rebuild Progress Gallery:https://www.slcairport.com/thenewslc...gress-gallery/


Section of the Connector bridge being moved into place. 8/27/18


Lifting Connector Bridge Section. 8/27/18


Elevated Roadway Paving. 8/14/18


Elevated Roadway Paving. 8/14/18


Elevated Roadway Paving. 8/14/18


Connector bridge section placement. 8/27/18


Setting Connector Bridge Supports. 7/25/18


Main Terminal, Elevated Roadway, Gateway Building (Connector to Parking Garage) progress. 7/25/18


Gateway Building and Parking Structure Progress. 7/25/18


Gateway Steel and Parking Deck. 7/16/18


North Concourse Steel Piles (no date)
.........................................
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #620  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2018, 10:13 PM
delts145's Avatar
delts145 delts145 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Downtown Los Angeles
Posts: 19,318
Utah Gov. Herbert helps kick off three-year, $430M I-15 expansion


By Art Raymond@DNTechHive Published: April 25, 2018 6:17 pm
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...expansion.html

The so-called I-15 Technology Corridor project will add two lanes on both the northbound and southbound sides from Lehi's Main Street to state Route 92, for a total of six lanes in both directions on completion. Interchange renovations are also in the mix, as well as 13 bridge rebuilds and the construction of a new bridge that will span I-15 connecting the east and west legs of Triumph Boulevard.


Gov. Gary Herbert, left, and Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, unveil a digital rendering of the Utah Department of Transportation’s I-15 Technology Corridor construction project at the Rain office in Lehi on Wednesday, April 25, 2018.

"It’s not just a matter of convenience," Herbert said. "It really is about economic growth, too. We will have a hard time continuing to grow economically if we do not solve the problem of transportation."

That growth, an issue also being grappled with by the Point of the Mountain Development Commission, is expected to propel Utah County past Salt Lake County in terms of population in the next 50 years and continue to test the resilience of not just the I-15 freeway, but travel corridors on both sides, and across the state's busiest interstate.

For those who may feel like I-15 construction through south Salt Lake County and Utah County has been perpetual, Utah Department of Transportation Executive Director Carlos Braceras said this project marks an end point. At least for now...


...In spite of the dearth of current, active public transit projects, Herbert said the future will include additional state funding for public transportation infrastructure expansions.

"I think what we need to do is invest strategically in all our transportation systems, that would include mass transit," Herbert said. "We’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars and we’ll spend additional hundreds of millions of dollars continuing on mass transit. We’re not going to stop, it will be a matter of both."


Herbert also added that changes enacted by the Legislature in this year's session to how UTA is managed included tweaks that likely will create new funding opportunities for transit projects.

"(Now) we can take our typical transportation fund and expand it beyond just roads, highways and byways into, in fact, mass transit," Herbert said. "That’s the first time we’ve been able to take money from one bucket and put it into another bucket.

"With this new governance structure, I think you're going to see very strategic investments and continuing to make sure we have optimal benefit for transportation."

UTA board member Alex Cragun said public transportation expansion will be critical in accommodating the expected growth along the Wasatch Front while also helping to address air quality issues and preserving a place that people will be drawn to.

"Investing in roads is important but, in terms of our long-term growth, we can’t build more roads out of this problem," Cragun said. "The end goal to reduce our pollution is remove cars from the roads. And that will require further investment in public transportation."

1 comment on this story
Cragun, who is also the executive director of the Utah Democratic Party and former director of transit advocacy group, Utah Transit Riders Union, said the increasing population density in the area lays good groundwork for efficient transit expansion, like new TRAX lines.

"As long as there is a demand for service in those areas, we should be talking about light rail," Cragun said. "We need to be making sure that we’re not only planning and building rail in a smart manner, but aligning that around housing and economic opportunities that sustain people."



New lanes for I-15 'Technology Corridor' tops UDOT project list for 2018


By Lisa Riley Roche - Deseret News, https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-for-2018.html

The Utah Department of Transportation will widen I-15 to six lanes in both directions between state Route 92 and Main Street in Lehi.
The $450 million project will start this spring and will wrap up in late 2020.



https://media.deseretdigital.com/

SALT LAKE CITY — The stretch of I-15 now being called the state's "Technology Corridor" ranks No. 1 on the Utah Department of Transportation's Top 10 list of construction projects for 2018...

...The I-15 project is key to developing Utah's Silicon Slopes technology corridor that includes 700 acres at Point of the Mountain that will be freed up after the Utah State Prison moves to a site near the Salt Lake City International Airport in 2020.


The other nine projects on the list released Monday are, in order of their rankings:

• Adding a new southbound lane on I-15 from 2100 South to 12300 South, redesigning some of the southbound ramps at the 1-15 and I-215 interchange and widening 7200 South to three lanes from I-15 to Bingham Junction Boulevard in Midvale. Work on the $180 million project is also scheduled to begin this spring and expected to be completed in late 2019.

• Reconstructing I-215 in Davis County from the I-15 interchange in North Salt Lake to 2100 North and building a new diverging diamond interchange at Redwood Road and I-215. The $40 million project has been underway since February and will continue through the end of the year.

• Replacing three bridges on I-80 in Tooele County near the state Route 36 interchange: eastbound and westbound I-80 over the railroad tracks and the S.R. 36 ramp bridge. The $30 million in bridge work will begin in late spring and should be done in the summer of 2019.

• Widening Bluff Street in St. George from 100 South to Sunset Boulevard by adding a lane in each direction and turn lanes at several intersections. The yearlong, $51 million project started in January.

• Adding a new westbound lane for trucks on I-80 from Jeremy Ranch to Parleys Summit, and a new wildlife crossing at the summit, repaving I-80 from Lambs Canyon to Kimball Junction. Work on the $30 million project started Monday and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

• Extending Mountain View Corridor in Utah County from the Redwood Road and 2100 North intersection to state Route 73. The $41 million project is set to start this spring and should be done next year.

• Converting four intersections on Bangerter Highway into freeway-style interchanges, at 5400 South, 7000 South, 9000 South and 11400 South. The $201 million project is underway and due to be completed by the end of the year.

• Reconstructing state Route 9, the gateway to Zion National Park, through Springdale. The old pavement is already being removed and replaced with new asphalt, and pedestrian and bike improvements are being made. The $19 million project should be done before the peak visitor season begins later this month.

• Finishing the widening and reconstruction of state Route 108 in Syracuse from Antelope Drive to 300 North in Davis County. The $52 million project started a year ago and should be completed this fall.

There are a total of 188 UDOT construction projects scheduled across the state this year, adding up to $1.46 billion. They range from sidewalk and street installations to the major projects on the list.



.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Discussion Forums > Transportation
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 9:10 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.