Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

I had a sit down meeting with Jill Remington Love yesterday and she said that it's looking like a 4-3 vote currently on the streetcar line and that those on the 3 side are actively trying to recruit someone to switch sides, particularly her, as either option serves people in her district.

The council really does take into account the opinions of citizens, so please make your voice heard on this issue.

The Trib reported today that the city council favor's the eastern route up 2100 S.

[CountyLemonade]

Am I the only one who thinks extending the streetcar east on 2100 South is the slightest bit absurd? There is little density. Most students who attend Highland probably won't be taking the streetcar to school. Sugar House Park? Okay. That's one good destination to connect. But it's only two blocks away from 1100 East. I don't know. 2100 South is a six-lane road through that stretch. 1100 East, the denser, more walkable alternative, is perfect for a streetcar. It'd take getting used to, especially considering it'd be the first rail in our city that runs in the same lanes as cars*, but if Portland and a whole host of other locales can do it surely we can too.

I also read somewhere in the Trib one councilman who supports the 2100 South extension (possibly Simonsen) stating that the current bus route that runs on 2100 South has high ridership through that stretch. As someone who takes that bus to school on a weekly basis, I can tell you that most of this ridership is going east (to the U), not west toward South Salt Lake. And, to further invalidate that argument, that ridership really only exists during the morning rush as students go to school. After that, that bus route is very lightly patronized by residents living east of 1300 East.

*although I suppose technically this distinction belongs to 200 West between 1300 South and 900 South, though that stretch of road is very lightly used by cars

[John Martin]

No, I totally agree.

[Orlando]

I like the idea of bringing the street car on to 2100 south, and I wish that was the original route. But, to take it up to Highland High seems to be a dead end. 1100 East is more central and can then become a circular route to downtown.

[bob rulz]

I agree with having the street car run up 1100 East to Westminster. Seems like a much more costworthy alternative. As somebody who once frequented the 21 bus eastbound to around the Highland High area (and not in the mornings when people take it to the U), it usually had just a few people, and there's not really a high-volume destination at the end of the line. It would essentially be a dead end.

[Comrade]

I live down the street from Highland, so, from a personal perspective, I like the idea. But it doesn't make sense - right now, anyway.

I say right now because the overall plan would then link the line up to Foothill and over to the University, which I think would be huge for that area. Unfortunately, that could be years in the future and it would make little sense in the short term view to extend the line up to 17th where, as already pointed out, it'll get little use.

[bob rulz]

Yes, that would be a very long-term view, and really, having the streetcar move up 1100 East to connect to the 4th South TRAX line would be a much more efficient - and let's face it, cheaper - long-term plan.

I used to also live down the street from Highland (miss that neighborhood desperately) and I thought it would've been cool to have the street car come up to Highland, literally just 5 minutes' walk from my house at the time, but I've gotten older and wiser since then, and perhaps moving out of the area has helped, uh, un-skew my perspective.

[UTPlanner]

I'm personally very much in support of the streetcar proceeding north up 1100 East. I think it serves a dense neighborhood full of young people and students, who are likely candidates to utilize a streetcar. The next phase also would terminate for the time being at Westminster College. They are building offices and apartments in the Sugar House Business District. It makes sense to create a transit connection. The biggest opponents that I am aware of are business owners along 1100 East that are worried about the effects of construction on their business. I think it's a very short sighted vision. The public hearing tonight should be quite a circus. They are expecting a very large crowd. I will be there...mostly because I have to be there.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by Stenar

The Trib reported today that the city council favor's the eastern route up 2100 S.

Not according to Jill Remington Love. Unless she has changed her opinion since last week when I talked to her. She was the crucial swing vote that Simmonson was trying to persuade to vote for the 2100 S alignment, and while part of her district is up in that direction, the 1100 E alignment makes much more sense to her.

If you haven't made your voice heard, please do so, it's obviously still up in the air.

[Scraperdude801]

2100 S doesn't make any sense. Honestly, the current businesses on 1100 east are pretty weak IMO. There's the Sterling furniture that nobody goes in, but is a landmark. There's a really ghetto gym that is rarely used, a plumbing store, a Scientology church, the post office, a dinky pub in the base of Urbana, a soup place, a gas station, and a laundry mat, as well as some other small things like 711 and a smith's gas station. Really, these businesses were not the draw for DT Sugarhouse that existed where the Sugar Hole is/was, and as such their interests shouldn't be held above the interests and needs of the city as a whole. Being a graduate of Westminster, I would have loved to take the streetcar to school, and I know there are many like me. Furthermore, the 1100 route allows for connections to 9th and 9th, and the 4th south streetcar line. I don't understand why the majority of our rail transit is being built to service future destinations. Let's service the existing destinations and get them really urbanized, and then expand.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by Scraperdude801

2100 S doesn't make any sense. Honestly, the current businesses on 1100 east are pretty weak IMO. There's the Sterling furniture that nobody goes in, but is a landmark. There's a really ghetto gym that is rarely used, a plumbing store, a Scientology church, the post office, a dinky pub in the base of Urbana, a soup place, a gas station, and a laundry mat, as well as some other small things like 711 and a smith's gas station. Really, these businesses were not the draw for DT Sugarhouse that existed where the Sugar Hole is/was, and as such their interests shouldn't be held above the interests and needs of the city as a whole. Being a graduate of Westminster, I would have loved to take the streetcar to school, and I know there are many like me. Furthermore, the 1100 route allows for connections to 9th and 9th, and the 4th south streetcar line. I don't understand why the majority of our rail transit is being built to service future destinations. Let's service the existing destinations and get them really urbanized, and then expand.

Actually the Boxing gym is rather popular and isn't really Ghetto in any way. The Sugarhouse pup isn't so dinky, it has expanded from it's original footprint and is actually a nice sized neighborhood pub now. While I agree with you opinion on the route, I have to disagree with you on your analysis of the businesses.

If the sidewalks are available during construction, I don't see business declining all that much, obviously some, but not enough to go out of business, IMO. The addition of street car will actually help expand business when completed.

[Comrade]

It's a neighborhood retail center - not a downtown to a major city. So, I'm not exactly sure what we're expecting on that stretch of the street. I'm content with more density and maybe an additional restaurant - but that area of 1100 East is pretty nifty in its own regard - especially with the narrowness of the street.

[brankrom]

So from the article it seems the city council punted another month or so down the line. No question that 11th east makes the most sense. I've lived in SLC for a decade and I haven't seen so much invitation for comment. I'm guessing too that there are federal requirements for density and ridership projections to receive fed funds that the 2100 South alignment just won't meet. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't there originally a streetcar on 1100 east?

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by brankrom

So from the article it seems the city council punted another month or so down the line. No question that 11th east makes the most sense. I've lived in SLC for a decade and I haven't seen so much invitation for comment. I'm guessing too that there are federal requirements for density and ridership projections to receive fed funds that the 2100 South alignment just won't meet. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't there originally a streetcar on 1100 east?

Yes there used to be Streetcar on 11th.

As for the City Council punting it another month or two down the road, that isn't accurate. They set a date to discuss it, among council, in a closed session on May 7th, and a vote is on the agenda for the public hearing on the 7th as well. If after the work session they don't feel they are ready to vote they will postpone the vote to a later date, however if they feel they are ready to vote it will be on the agenda. Or if the administration provides the evidence the council is asking for regarding a time frame to apply for federal funding, then they will also vote. So for the Administration hasn't stated exactly why they want a decision soon, so that is why the council is requesting that information, because they don't want to miss the opportunity for federal funds, but if there isn't a tight deadline for those funds, they don't want to rush to a decision.

There is still time to make your opinion heard regarding the best route.
http://www.slcgov.com/opencityhall

[Viperlord]

an interesting article....

Long Airport Layovers Can Be Vacations, Not Hassles

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolm...s-not-hassles/

Unfortunately, few U.S. airports rarely offer the ease or public transport connections into their affiliated cities that Heathrow does, but one rare exception is Salt Lake City, a major Delta hub, which just this week debuted TRAX, a light rail train into downtown. Trains depart every 15 minutes, and with a 20-minute ride, it is easy to hit the main downtown sights – Salt Lake is wrapping up a $5 billion downtown infrastructure renaissance that includes the new Leonardo Science Museum, new Natural History Museum, new mixed use indoor/outdoor City Creek Center, along with existing attractions such as Temple Square, the most visited site in the State.

[ajiuO]

Any more rumors on a u-airport or u-hub line?

[Makid]

UTA ‘essentially done now’ with 2015 five-line plan
Transit » General manager tells board: “ We’ve exceeded our goals multiple times.”

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politic...-done.html.csp

Riding high from this month’s celebratory airport TRAX line launch — completed two years early and $40 million under budget — the Utah Transit Authority crossed a host of other items off its to-do list Wednesday, noting the initial target to deliver five lines by 2015 is "essentially done now."

But the goals report was far from defensive. Ridership, it boasted, edged the 42.7 million goal with 42.8 million. The 400 van pools across the system will double in number during the next few years. And the 92 percent completion rate targeted for 2012 is actually 98.4 percent, registering $300 million under budget.

What’s more, 27 percent of downtown Salt Lake City workers and 35 percent of University of Utah faculty, staff and students now take transit.

Other highlights from the goals report include:

• Provo-Orem bus rapid transit has entered project development phase, the last step before notching federal funding next year.

• The Draper line is complete and now awaiting certifications to open in late July or early August.

• UTA is pursuing a federal grant for a new natural-gas station.

• Maintenance buildings across the Wasatch Front are being sized for solar panels.

• Bus system pollution is lower while miles per gallon are higher due to engine tuneups.

• Investment per rider was $3.44, below the goal of $3.60.

Board member Keith Bartholomew also sought to ease the fears of Sugar House business owners who are concerned about a proposed 1100 East streetcar route — still under debate — for the project’s second phase, fearing potential business disruption. He said the construction company, contracted from Portland, Ore., can complete one block a week.

[youngatheist]

Does anyone know if they're going through with that bus from SLC to Moab, or has that been scrapped?

[Orlando]

http://slenterprise.com/view/full_st...fway-complete?

Sugar House streetcar work more than halfway complete

The Enterprise 3 days ago
By Brice Wallace

The Enterprise

Construction on the Sugar House streetcar and greenway project is more than halfway complete and should provide a boost to businesses near the line, according to the executive director of the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency.

Speaking to the Utah chapter of NAIOP last week, D.J. Baxter also said the two-mile Sugar House line will be the first leg of what ultimately could become a citywide streetcar network.

While the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) has built “a regional backbone” for long-haul trips, the streetcar will “help extend a pedestrian’s walking trip,” he said. Its slow speeds and frequent stops — seven are planned, about three-tens of a mile apart — should benefit businesses along the line, which will run in an old freight corridor from the Central Pointe TRAX station at 2100 South to McClelland Street (1045 East) along 2230 South.

“In other cities that have put these in, because it stops frequently and it stops right at the curb instead of the middle of the street, it’s been phenomenally successful at putting more feet on the street, and as a result they are very beneficial to retail businesses,” Baxter said.

Streetcar systems have been successful in Portland, Ore., and about a dozen other cities, he said.

“What we’ve seen in a number of other communities around the country is streetcars are uniquely capable of stimulating private investment. What other communities have discovered is the permanency of tracks in the street distinguish this pretty significantly from a bus route, in the sense that providing a high-quality form of transit for a very large group of people and in a form that we all know is going to be there 50 years from now provides a lot more certainty for private investment, whereas a bus route can change overnight. You just take the sign down and move it to the next block and suddenly your investment is next to a former bus stop instead of a current one.”

Planning began in 2006 with a study of transit alternatives through Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake. Construction began in April 2012 and now is about 65 percent complete. When finished in July, the line will undergo about four months of testing. It is expected to be operating in December, starting with about 3,000 riders daily and seeing that figure climb to about 4,000 by 2030.

The RDA has been working on the project with Salt Lake City; South Salt Lake, which has about half the line; and UTA, which owns the corridor. The corridor is wide, so it also will feature a greenway, or linear park, that will feature a bike trail and strolling paths.

Baxter said the city will look at possible zoning changes along the corridor. Commercial nodes exist at some intersections and zoning changes could help them proper and perhaps expand. He said new developments would be encouraged to face the corridor, and adjacent property owners could have café tables or other features in the corridor. “We would like those developments to spill right into the corridor and face the corridor,” he said.

The $45 million project is getting a $26 million boost from federal funds. Private investment planned within a half-mile of the streetcar terminus is estimated at $405 million in the Sugar House Business District.

Salt Lake City once had 145 miles of streetcar lines, often undertaken by private developers. And the Sugar House line could be the first part of a citywide streetcar network. The RDA envisions the line extending along Sugarmont Drive (2225 South) to Highland Drive, then north to the Sugar House Monument, then north on 1100 East. It then could jog to 900 East 900 South, then north to the University of Utah and west to the west side of the city, he said.

“So this is really the beginning of a network, we hope, and this first piece will open soon,” Baxter said.

[scottharding]

I'll be very interested to see what develops immediately around the Central Pointe Station. Of course, there was that massive development planned several years ago that never came about, but that land still sits there, mostly bare, right where several lines of transit converge. I would think that area is going to transform dramatically very soon.