Salt Lake Transit News Thread - Page 101

StevenF · #**2001** Posted **Nov 11, 2009, 11:54 PM**

Not sure how UTA and CVT would work together though to make the train work. Cache County is different then others in Utah as it runs its own transit separate from UTA.

delts145 · #**2002** Posted **Nov 13, 2009, 11:54 AM**

Let the traffic flow: I-80 reconstruction is officially complete

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...-complete.html

Traffic moves freely through the I-80 corridor on Thursday as UDOT officially opened the interstate from State Street to 1300 East. Officials celebrated the completion of the Innovate 80 campaign one year ahead of schedule, which included 12 projects. The last remaining closure is the on ramp for northbound traffic on 1300 East to access the freeway going westbound. That ramp will be completed in time for the Monday commute. (Francisco Kjolseth / The Salt Lake Tribune )

The freeway reconstruction between State Street and 1300 East, called "Innovate 80" by the Utah Department of Transportation, was officially completed Thursday,...The project cost the state $139 million.

I-80 now has five lanes in each direction, as crews built an additional travel lane in each direction and "auxiliary lanes" for on- and off-ramps that will give traffic more space to merge into travel lanes.

Crews also built 17 bridges, including at 300 East, 500 East, 600 East, 700 East, 900 East and Highland Drive. Bridge work was also done at State Street.

Rick Wilson, left, helps Gov. Gary Herbert maneuver a self-propelled modular transporter during the I-80 reopening. (Michael Brandy, Deseret News)

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_13774999?source=rv

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John Martin · #**2003** Posted **Nov 14, 2009, 12:58 AM**

Yay! I didn't think they'd be finished for another week or two, I kind of thought they were going to do more. But it's okay, they've done so much already and I-80 is way nice now. I can finally go downtown the easy way again, I'll have to check it out.

Does the 2300 east on ramp count as part of this? I'd really be surprised if that were done, but I'll be happy if it is.

skyguy414 · #**2004** Posted **Nov 14, 2009, 1:19 AM**

2300 E ramp is open according to the UDOT website. One of the WB on ramps (the cloverleaf) at 1300 E still has a couple more weeks of work. Some landscaping and other minor work is ongoing.

John Martin · #**2005** Posted **Nov 14, 2009, 4:17 AM**

Yes, I went on it tonight. There was a sign saying it'd be closed for a certain period during the day, so it's probably best to avoid it.

delts145 · #**2006** Posted **Nov 21, 2009, 11:41 AM**

3500 East project ends months ahead of schedule

Faster buses » Upgrade includes dedicated bus lanes.

A $32 million makeover on 3500 South in West Valley City is done, clearing the way for rapid buses from Magna to the north-south TRAX line.

The Utah Department of Transportation on Friday dedicated its project eight months ahead of schedule. Work began a year ago.

The roadway from Bangerter Highway to 2700 West now includes three regular lanes in each direction and one each way exclusively for the Utah Transit Authority's first bus rapid transit line.

Crews laid fiber-optic lines and utilities before repaving the road with concrete and building curbs, gutters and sidewalks. Landscaping and decorative lighting are yet to be installed.

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delts145 · #**2007** Posted **Nov 24, 2009, 5:25 AM**

FrontRunner South line to clear major hurdle this week

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=8783538

SANDY -- The Utah Transit Authority will complete a key link on the high-speed rail to Utah County this week. It's an engineering challenge, with the FrontRunner tracks crossing the existing railroad tracks in the air.

ksl.com

FrontRunner's south rail system is not a given. The tracks line is being built from the ground up. As the new line runs south through Salt Lake County, the rails are east of Union Pacific's rails; that is until about 9800 South. Here, it crosses, or "flies over," on a special bridge to run west of the existing rails.

"It made sense north of Salt Lake to be on the east side. As we get down here to the south, we need to be on the west side of the tracks, so we built this special structure to accommodate that," explained FrontRunner project manager Steve Meyer.

The flyover bridge is made up of 20 steel beams, 475 feet long and 31 and a half tons each. The crew working on the structure carefully placed a few of them Monday. The pieces are held in place by 172 bolts per splice, 40 feet in the air above the existing Union Pacific tracks.

Aerial view of FrontRunner South flyover from Chopper 5

The concrete piers are set 100 feet into the ground. The girders have post-tension wires through them, allowing for more weight.

Aerial view of FrontRunner South flyover from Chopper 5 "This is our biggest structure on the FrontRunner South project," Meyer said.

UTA is taking advantage of low construction costs and voter-approved tax increases to pay for the $960 million project.

"Anyone who has ever driven and been stuck in traffic knows we need alternatives to move people from south to north," said Utah spokesman Gerry Carpenter.

When it's complete, the FrontRunner South line will be part of the 45-mile commuter rail line between Ogden and Provo.

There's been a lot of progress on the line that runs between Utah County and the Intermodal Hub in Salt Lake City, but there's still a lot that needs to be done. The whole project isn't scheduled to be completed until late 2012.

The Frontrunner South project is one of five rail projects that UTA is building and are set to be open by 2015. The others are light-rail projects to West Valley, the airport, South Jordan and Draper.

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shakman · #**2008** Posted **Nov 24, 2009, 2:46 PM**

The ksl article mentioned "high speed rail" yet refering to FrontRunner. Will the train cars be different or is FrontRunner as whole considered to be "high speed rail" ?

esirhgih · #**2009** Posted **Nov 24, 2009, 3:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakman

The ksl article mentioned "high speed rail" yet refering to FrontRunner. Will the train cars be different or is FrontRunner as whole considered to be "high speed rail" ?

KSL.com just has poor journalistic standards. It's commuter rail, not HSR.

i-215 · #**2010** Posted **Nov 25, 2009, 11:44 PM**

Really? You're gonna trash on their journalism standard just because they called it HSR instead of Commuter Rail?

I could take you all to school on the mess-ups you, the papers, TV, and everyone make when it comes to highway terminology. But even if I (arrogantly) did that, it would be improper for me to imply you, the papers, and TV have poor storytelling standards.

If only you know how awful morale is at KUTV, KTVX, and the Deseret News right now ... KSL and the Trib are the best things we've got!

TonyAnderson · #**2011** Posted **Nov 26, 2009, 12:54 AM**

Maybe they were dumbing it down for the viewers to help distinguish it from light-rail.

Future Mayor · #**2012** Posted **Nov 26, 2009, 1:04 AM**

FYI, it has in the past been referred to as High Speed Commuter Rail, for that exact reason, to differentiate it from Light Rail.

i-215 · #**2013** Posted **Nov 26, 2009, 2:02 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyAnderson

Maybe they were dumbing it down for the viewers to help distinguish it from light-rail.

Sorry for my earlier grouchiness. Actually, there's more truth to that then you know. The idea of mainstream, local news is to help inform as many people as possible. So, yes, HSR would clearly be "different" than LRT for the masses. Versus NPR, which tends to educate more college-educated people, and therefore can afford to be more technical.

TonyAnderson · #**2014** Posted **Nov 26, 2009, 7:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-215

Sorry for my earlier grouchiness. Actually, there's more truth to that then you know. The idea of mainstream, local news is to help inform as many people as possible. So, yes, HSR would clearly be "different" than LRT for the masses. Versus NPR, which tends to educate more college-educated people, and therefore can afford to be more technical.

I know what you mean though, when I read the article the first thing I thought was that FrontRunner wasn't high-speed rail. But then again, I'm a genius.

delts145 · #**2015** Posted **Nov 27, 2009, 12:57 PM**

3900 S. gets face-lift

Construction » Sidewalks and bike paths likely to make Holladay stretch safer.

http://www.sltrib.com/slc/ci_13852401

Holladay » A $4 million overhaul of 3900 South will take some of the fright out of biking and walking down the suburban thoroughfare.

Started in August and expected to last one year, the Geneva Rock reconstruction project already has added sidewalks across the north side of the road's Holladay stretch. Before, pedestrians had only a narrow shoulder along the route from 2300 East to 1860 East...

Cars navigate road construction along 3900 south near 2300 east in Salt Lake County recently. (Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune)

esirhgih · #**2016** Posted **Nov 27, 2009, 3:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-215

Sorry for my earlier grouchiness. Actually, there's more truth to that then you know. The idea of mainstream, local news is to help inform as many people as possible. So, yes, HSR would clearly be "different" than LRT for the masses. Versus NPR, which tends to educate more college-educated people, and therefore can afford to be more technical.

Well, maybe it's just because I'm an educated snob who frequently listens to NPR then, but sometimes I wonder whether KSL.com is being edited by children. It's certainly not just the HSR confusion that has shaped my opinion on their internet reporting.

In their defense, they are the only TV station in Utah with a website that isn't so badly designed that it's unbearable to use at all. Also, a lot of their website news seems to come from KSL news radio reports are obviously not going to be as thoroughly edited prior to going up as say, something on the DesNews or Trib's websites might be.

electricron · #**2017** Posted **Nov 27, 2009, 5:53 PM**

High Speed is a relative. Compared to Light rail, Commuter rail is High Speed.

i-215 · #**2018** Posted **Nov 27, 2009, 7:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esirhgih

Well, maybe it's just because I'm an educated snob who frequently listens to NPR then, but sometimes I wonder whether KSL.com is being edited by children. It's certainly not just the HSR confusion that has shaped my opinion on their internet reporting.

In their defense, they are the only TV station in Utah with a website that isn't so badly designed that it's unbearable to use at all. Also, a lot of their website news seems to come from KSL news radio reports are obviously not going to be as thoroughly edited prior to going up as say, something on the DesNews or Trib's websites might be.

They have the only usuable TV/Radio web site in the country.

TonyAnderson · #**2019** Posted **Nov 28, 2009, 1:29 AM**

New bridge ready in North Salt Lake on I-15
By Mitch Shaw

Last Edit: 8 hours 4 min ago (Nov 27 2009 - 6:43am)

NORTH SALT LAKE -- The final bridge replacement for the Interstate 15 ExpressLink project is near completion.

"The U.S. 89 bridge over I-15 from North Salt Lake will be closed Monday and Tuesday to switch traffic onto a new bridge. The Beck Street on ramp to I-15 will also be closed. The U.S. 89 bridge will be reduced to one lane until January as crews finish final construction work."

http://www.standard.net/topics/udot/...salt-lake-i-15

i-215 · #**2020** Posted **Nov 28, 2009, 3:29 AM**

That's gonna be really nice once it's all open to traffic. Add in the 11400 South project, and we'll have a nice, new freeway from the SLCO line to Bangerter.