Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

FutureMayor I will leave the governing to you. I prefer to stay out of the spotlight. The great thing about being the Mayor is getting credit for every good thing that happens in the city, the bad thing about being the Mayor is getting credit for every bad thing that occurs.

I had the great opportunity of doing a lot of campaigning for Mayor Becker I may help you out along the way as well free of charge.

I appreciate your offer for help and will most likely take you up on it when the time arises.

[SmilingBob]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Many of you mentioned that we need to have options. I'm not saying that we should all live in downtown. Living in places where infrastructure is built up, like Clearfield is still okay. Living in Clearfield is a whole lot different than living in Herriman and Eagle Mountain. First of all, there are already many suburbs that have alot more room to grow and they definitely already have more infrastructure and transportation than Herriman, and Eagle Mountain. It was ignorance on the part of planners and developers and home buyers to build out there. Clerefield has I-15 running by it. Frontrunner now runs by it. It's along a major transportation corridor between SLC and Ogden. Herriman, and Eagle Mountain are different because they are way out of the way. There is no major transportation corridor running out there. Those people were stupid to buy out there, and those people who allowed them to build out by the thousands were not very responsible or educated.
I agree with Future Mayor, that there should be limits imposed by UDOT, UTA, and any other planning agency. It requires a lot more money to build up adequate infrastructure for those people. It costs more, it wastes more. It is irresponsible, ignorant, etc. Go live in Lehi or Clerefield, where it at least is closer to the freeway. Herriman and Eagle Mountain are perfect examples of leap-frog development. Developers found a cheap piece of land far out from the perimeter and decided to build. Because there were no planning controls in place, they were allowed to do so.

The best way to stop sprawl is to create affordable housing so people don't have to live out in the suburbs. Most people moved to Tooele or Eagle Mountain, not for giant pieces of land, but because that's where the houses are that they can afford. If they had a town home with a small yard for BBQ'ing and the kids closer into the city, many wouldn't want the long commute.

Americans and Utahns do need to learn to live closer to their neighbors. Many developments in Draper were built to be walkable with trails and garages out back. They were steps in the right direction and we just need more developments to follow. We need denser developments and affordable to stop "sprawl".

[SLC Projects]

Sugar House
Council votes 5-0 to run streetcar along 2300 South
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/24/2008 12:37:03 AM MDT

In a 5-0 vote, the City Council adopted a joint resolution with Mayor Ralph Becker to forge ahead with a low-speed Sugar House streetcar to be funded by the capital, Utah Transit Authority and South Salt Lake.
After an environmental study, the plan calls for a streetcar to run along a two-mile stretch of 2300 South between UTA's Central Pointe station on 200 West and Highland Drive's Granite Block development. The public trolley will stop every two blocks. The city plans to preserve enough space alongside the street car for a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
"I don't anticipate this will change bus service along 2100 South," Councilman Soren Simonsen said. - Derek P. Jensen

[wrendog]

Awesome! Can't wait!

[delts145]

From Ogden Thread,

Developers are excited about Layton shopping center

TOD'S - Commuter Rail Transforming a Metro

...FrontRunner will be the showpiece for Public Transportation in Utah and the Intermountain region. Layton City is excited to be a part of the project that will change transportation in Utah for generations to come.

FrontRunner locomotive #5 at Layton Station



http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1...245695,00.html

From the worst in town to the best. That's how the developers of Fort Lane Village view their plan for reinventing the old shopping center at Fort Lane and Gentile streets.

Related: - Layton OKs housing units

Residential growth has slowed down in Davis County's largest city as it has in most municipalities these days. However, the City Council has approved the development of another 65 housing units.

...the council gave the OK for 56 single and two-family residential units at 312 W. Gentile St., as part of the Town Homes of Gentile project.

Also approved were another nine units as part of phase one of the Angel Street Town Homes project at 1400 N. Angel St.

The Gentile Street project is on 4.8 acres and proposes a density of 11.5 units per acre.

"It's a good location for some higher density residential," said Bill Wright, Layton's community development director.

He said this project is across the street (north) of Layton Elementary School and just west of the Union Pacific railroad tracks. It also includes some old vacant business buildings, where the original Tanner Clinic was and where the Jesus People's Ministry used to be housed.

Zoning was changed from professional business and residential-suburban to a denser R-2 zone.

"This will be good for that area," Mayor Steve Curtis said.

Six of the units in the development are slated to face Gentile Street, but Layton city staff wants those to have their garages and street access elsewhere and off that busy street.

Councilman Renny Knowlton said he's noticed that single home development has slowed down a lot recently.
"I see we're headed more toward towards condos and townhouses," he said.

The Angel Street project is being developed by Trophy Homes and is located just north of Kohl's Department store and south of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park..

Wright said these are two and three-bedroom developments on two floors in a 1,300- to 1,500-square-foot unit plan.

FrontRunner changing face of Old Downtown Layton


Rendering of the Laton Commuter Rail Station

The Layton Commuter Rail Station has taken shape. The FrontRunner Commuter Rail line runs from Pleasant View in Weber County to Downtown Salt Lake City. The 44-mile line will have stations in eight cities and a trip time of under one-hour. The Diesel/Electric Locomotive is capable of reaching speeds above 75 MPH and feature's BI-level Cabin Cars and Gallery Cars.

The Layton Commuter Rail Station is located north of the I-15 and Main Street interchange and southwest of the Main Street and Gentile Street intersection. The Station include's a park and ride lot that enable's patrons easy access to the Commuter Rail. The design for the Station includes many user comforts and also amenities that will beautify the area.

In addition to the new Station, UDOT is also doing a study for a proposed Interchange that would be built near the Station. Layton City has designated the area as a Redevelopment Project Area and is focusing on bringing new business to the area and revitalizing existing infrastructure. There is a lot of interest in Old Downtown and the area is poised to become a major attraction along the Commuter Rail Line.

FrontRunner will be the showpiece for Public Transportation in Utah and the Intermountain region. Layton City is excited to be a part of the project that will change transportation in Utah for generations to come.
.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

Sugar House
Council votes 5-0 to run streetcar along 2300 South
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/24/2008 12:37:03 AM MDT

In a 5-0 vote, the City Council adopted a joint resolution with Mayor Ralph Becker to forge ahead with a low-speed Sugar House streetcar to be funded by the capital, Utah Transit Authority and South Salt Lake.
After an environmental study, the plan calls for a streetcar to run along a two-mile stretch of 2300 South between UTA's Central Pointe station on 200 West and Highland Drive's Granite Block development. The public trolley will stop every two blocks. The city plans to preserve enough space alongside the street car for a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
"I don't anticipate this will change bus service along 2100 South," Councilman Soren Simonsen said. - Derek P. Jensen

This is very exciting news. I can't wait to see this project realized. What a boom this will prove to be for both South Salt Lake and Sugarhouse!! This trolley connecting to TRAX also makes the Granite Block and other Sugarhouse redevelopment even more solid.

Check in today over on the Transportation Thread of the general Forum/Salt Lake Debuts, if you get a moment. Forumers from all over the world seem to like following our great transportation news. Leave your comments about your enthusiasm for Wasatch, Mass-Transit development.

[NYC Rick]

Originally Posted by SmilingBob

The best way to stop sprawl is to create affordable housing so people don't have to live out in the suburbs. Most people moved to Tooele or Eagle Mountain, not for giant pieces of land, but because that's where the houses are that they can afford. If they had a town home with a small yard for BBQ'ing and the kids closer into the city, many wouldn't want the long commute.

Americans and Utahns do need to learn to live closer to their neighbors. Many developments in Draper were built to be walkable with trails and garages out back. They were steps in the right direction and we just need more developments to follow. We need denser developments and affordable to stop "sprawl".

Just to relate to, I lived in Manhattan for 12 years. I still having a working studio there but I now live in Tappan NY about 10 miles north of Manhattan. It is very wooded and you would never dream that you were close to NYC.

I really love living there but man, I really miss living right in the city. Everything is right there...anything. The restaurants, museums and on and on.

If I go to a Knicks (the NBA joke but they were great when I was living in the city) or Yankees or whatever games, it is a drive. It is not like getting on the subway and being there in 10 minutes. As a side note...light rail is one of the best things that SLC has done. Real connection of distances that are tedious to drive.

I miss living in an urban core. Of course that is just how I feel.

[i-215]

Holy crud! I was thinking (without reading the caption) that Layton may be a great place to get off for lunch when I take FrontRunner for a first ride in the next month or so.

But that's a rendering? Dang! Actors are going to be out of work in Hollywood pretty soon.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by NYC Rick

Just to relate to, I lived in Manhattan for 12 years. I still having a working studio there but I now live in Tappan NY about 10 miles north of Manhattan. It is very wooded and you would never dream that you were close to NYC.

I really love living there but man, I really miss living right in the city. Everything is right there...anything. The restaurants, museums and on and on.

If I go to a Knicks (the NBA joke but they were great when I was living in the city) or Yankees or whatever games, it is a drive. It is not like getting on the subway and being there in 10 minutes. As a side note...light rail is one of the best things that SLC has done. Real connection of distances that are tedious to drive.

I miss living in an urban core. Of course that is just how I feel.

I am about to feel similar pain NYC Rick. While attending Grad school I have lived in an old office building converted to apartments right in downtown Cleveland. Everything is within walking distance, or in bad weather,(which happend alot ) 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.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by i-215

Holy crud! I was thinking (without reading the caption) that Layton may be a great place to get off for lunch when I take FrontRunner for a first ride in the next month or so.

But that's a rendering? Dang! Actors are going to be out of work in Hollywood pretty soon.

LOL. I thought that too. That has to be one of the most realest rendering I have ever seen. I first thought it was a real photo of Layton.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

LOL. I thought that too. That has to be one of the most realest rendering I have ever seen. I first thought it was a real photo of Layton.

I wish the Layton station was that nice. It's a pile of weeds and an old run-down train station serving as a restaurant. I ride the train there to work 2x a week (work from home the othe 3 days a week!) and have to walk through weeds and on a tiny strip of dirt between railroad tracks and a busy street (VERY DANGEROUS) to get to work. It's a bit nerve wracking now.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Stenar

I wish the Layton station was that nice. It's a pile of weeds and an old run-down train station serving as a restaurant. I ride the train there to work 2x a week (work from home the othe 3 days a week!) and have to walk through weeds and on a tiny strip of dirt between railroad tracks and a busy street (VERY DANGEROUS) to get to work. It's a bit nerve wracking now.

Here's a Google Street View of the Layton station area now.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...85530546623792

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Here's a Google Street View of the Layton station area now.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...85530546623792

Well then this project will make that area look alot nicer.

[UTPlanner]

You should give the run down train station aka Doug & Emmy's a try. They have great food.

[UTAZLoVer]

Amen I love that place. Every time in town I make sure to do a breakfast there!~

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

You should give the run down train station aka Doug & Emmy's a try. They have great food.

I don't think they would have anything I can eat.

[arkhitektor]

Are you supposed to seat yourself at Doug and Emmy's?

The wife and I went there once but the place was empty and we left after a few minutes of standing around trying to figure out what was going on.

Re: that rendering of the Layton Station area:
It seems that rendering has been floating around for years and that its not an actual proposal for anything, just a pretty picture the city uses to drum up excitement for downtown, which is a miserable place if you've not been there. It desperatly needs a rehab quickly.

[RFPCME]

While poking around this evening on the Utah Geologic Survey site, looking for information related to the fairly recent oil discovery in Sanpete Co., I ran across some energy consumption statistics I thought I would share.

While these consumption statistics include all kinds of energy consumption, including transportation, I think they do show some interesting trends:

First, average energy consumption for the entire country is hovering around 335M BTUs per year per person.

Second, Utah's average energy consumption per person per year is close to 305M BTUs per person per year, or about 10% less than the national average. I guess we could chalk up the difference to more large families in Utah, meaning more people are clustered in the same home when it is being heated or cooled and more in the same car. I don't think that explanation holds all that much water because there are more single-family homes per capita in Utah than in the national average and there are more cars per captia. So I wonder what is going on.

Third, the variation in energy use in Utah and nationwide is pretty stable, not much change from year to year. There was one year (1976) when energy use in Utah was off the chart (over 400M BTUs per person--must have been a very cold winter) and one year is was below 275M. But what amazed me was how stable the number has been, meaning conservation has not had much impact. It will be fascinating to see what happens to this statistic in 2008.

Finally, with numbers these large, a 10% difference has to be statistically significant, indicating a true difference in energy use per person in Utah and energy use nationwide. Anyone care to speculate what the difference is due to? Also it will be interesting to track usage to see if mass transit has any impact. I doubt it will because the segment of the population in Utah that actually uses mass transit is small. But the number is growing

[Future Mayor]

There is a possibility that the 10% below the national average could be attributed to the natural barriers that Utah has. There is always a psychological barrier associated with natural barriers, for instance many people that live in Salt Lake County may stay in the Salt Lake Valley to work and to shop. While the mountains aren't a barrier that we can't get around they are defining landmarks. The point of the mountain to the south, north and west are all physical barriers and noticeable landmarks, as is Parley's Canyon to the east. I could possibly be that in other metros were there are no huge physical barriers/landmarks like mountains it could be possible that those citizens in other metros are more willing to drive a few additional miles to go to a store or work without realizing it, because they aren't crossing that defining boundary. Were as going around any of the point at any side of SL County seems like you are traveling further.

In how many other metros can you leave a county in any direction and know when you are leaving it without seeing a sign. You always know when you are leaving SL County.

I could be way off but that is one thing that initially came to mind.

[arkhitektor]

Taking 'rush' out of rush hour
More elbow room on that commute? Thank high gas prices
By Brandon Loomis
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/29/2008 06:28:31 AM MDT

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10028472

It seems that FrontRunner is taking more cars off the road, and that the remaining drivers are noticing the difference. By the time that Legacy Parkway opens this fall and takes another 33% of cars off of I-15, the Davis Co. commute isn't going to be the hellish ordeal that it was just a year ago.