Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[DMTower]

Do you have a key for your map by chance? It's tricky guessing which lines represent what.

[urbanboy]

Oh sorry, all the orange lines are street-car lines, the yellow line going up and down State Street is Bus Rapid Transit, and all the rest are different TRAX lines, except for the thick yellowish green line which is high-speed/commuter rail. If Salt Lake City wants to keep it's name as "The Crossroads of the West," then we're going to need to designate/preserve a rail corridor going north, south, east, and west from the City. Although the U.S. is a little behind the times with it's high speed mass transit implementation, or lack thereof, rail is becoming more and more popular these days.

My most recent thoughts:




Any better ideas?

[cololi]

Well, the big yellow line going through the neighborhoods adjacent to I-80 sucks. Those trains would make that a pretty undesirable place to live. Put it in the I-80 Corridor and take homes next to the interstate versus those that will be served by street car within 5 years.

Street car is not going to make it up the hill at 800 S unless there is some sort of elevated rail that can eliminate the need for a train to get over the flat spots where streets intersect on the hill or use vehicles similar in size to the San Fran cable cars. The approach and departure angles of the roadway are too steep and a train would get high centered or hit the upslope.

That hill is a real issue because the only places you could get up without major changes are S Temple, 100 S, 500 S possibly 900 S and then 1700 or 2100. I don;t think that we will see system as complete as your map URban boy. By the time we could afford to build those, my guess is that there will be new technology that allows the private automobile to continue its dominance.

[SLCdude]

Yeah, having it run down the center of I-80 might be a good idea.

[Future Mayor]

Or elevated above I-80, at least through the valley. Considering there is no longer a middle of I-80, until you get to about 1700 E.

[urbanboy]

I was thinking smaller street cars for the orange lines. I was also thinking the high-speed rail could be below grade until it hits sugarhouse park. It could even be a double decker line with a streetcar on top, or even just an urban trail and bike path on top. Also, no matter how "green" you make an automobile, it (and the infrastructure) will never be as efficient as mass transit.

[cololi]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

Also, no matter how "green" you make an automobile, it (and the infrastructure) will never be as efficient as mass transit.

That may be, but Americans still love their cars and the only way that changes is if it no longer is affordable to most people.

[i-215]

Cars may be less "efficient" but on a user-by-user basis they are insurmountably more "effective."

[urbanboy]

effective at taking up a ridiculous amount of space. You might think it effective until you find yourself stuck in traffic on a busy "freeway."

[i-215]

But how often does that happen? Even in L.A. a trip down the Arroyo Seco Parkway, through Pasadena onto the Foothill Freeway ... hitting slow traffic all the way ... STILL kicks MTA Gold Line's butt! The LRT is great at not having to pay for parking, but other than that - even a congested road system is still faster and more convenient than even the best transit.

And honestly, right of way "splitting neighborhoods" is just as bad with rail as it is with highways:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...14162&t=k&z=16

Behold! One of Berlin's many "railway" interchanges.

[urbanboy]

All 4-way interchanges are going to look something like that. The trick is to put these on the outskirts of town in rural areas. If you follow the lines into the city, you'll notice a couple things: the corridor becomes very narrow, and the rail is elevated. Also Look even closer... No parking lots. Those who ride the train don't need to worry about where they're going to leave the train car.

[SLCdude]

I saw some construction in the center of North Temple last night. Looks like they've started building the Airport line. Am i right?

[skyguy414]

Originally Posted by SLCdude

I saw some construction in the center of North Temple last night. Looks like they've started building the Airport line. Am i right?

Construction started last fall. Most of the construction so far has been in the vicinity of the airport. Work along 3700 west at the airport (the road where the line will terminate) begins in ten days.

[cololi]

You may have noticed the jordan river bridge, the north half anyways, has been rebuilt. A lot of bridge work is being done around Wingpoint Golf Course. Construction will work from the west to the east from the airport. Near 2200 West some curb, gutter and sidewalk work is already under way. The demolition of the N Temple viaduct begins on the 18th.

[goldcntry]

They've also started the utility work under North Temple and 4th west, blocking the side on/off ramps from 4th for the duration. It messed up student and visitor parking access to the Triad Center from 4th for a couple of days until a chain was removed allowing access from South temple to the student lots.

[arkhitektor]

I was out at Daybreak yesterday for a work meeting and saw that the new S70 cars are being tested on the Daybreak portion of the mid-Jordan line. I was riding with my boss, and thought it would be wierd to ask him to stop for me to take some pictures of a train, but they are out there if anyone happens to be in the area with a camera.

[John Martin]

Actually I already got a few shots.







conveniently located in the middle of nowhere..

[scottharding]

Sleek. I like them. They'll look good when painted.

It sure is weird to see a trax line out there in the midst of open space. It'll make for an interesting experiment on how a community grows around light rail on a completely blank pallet.

[TonyAnderson]

John, you should have waited at the 'station' there and tried to catch a ride.

[RFPCME]

John Martin...way to go! The pictures of the new TRAX cars look great. As I was looking at your pictures, I got the distinction impression I was looking at "spy" photos, looking at something I wasn't supposed to see. It was great. Made me feel naughty again. Nice work.