Salt Lake Transit News Thread

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by delts145

Spot for Draper rail stop still undecided

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1...257240,00.html


The city also is halting plans to renovate the historic Park School, saying its location near a planned light rail stop could provide a great place for additional transit-oriented development. The council has discussed creating a new zoning ordinance that would allow for skyscrapers, retail shops and office space.

Land owned by the Utah Department of Natural Resources — the Galena property — could be rezoned, as could property farther north owned by the Whitewater VII Corp. The Galena property is east of the Jordan River and north of Bangerter Highway.

Only one of the properties is expected to be made into a rail stop. The chosen spot will be the center of a high-density project that would feature buildings much taller than any currently allowed in the city...

..

Rezone? high-density buildings?...Skyscrapers?.........in Draper?
It seems like all these cities now are joining the what I call the "Skyscraper race" First Lehi, then Sandy and now Draper? Why does every city feel that just because they get a light rail or frontrunner running throw their city with stations they then feel they need to start building skyscrapers?
I think i am starting to understand what some of you guys have been saying about skyscraper sprawl.

[shakman]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

Rezone? high-density buildings?...Skyscrapers?.........in Draper?
It seems like all these cities now are joining the what I call the "Skyscraper race" First Lehi, then Sandy and now Draper? Why does every city feel that just because they get a light rail or frontrunner running throw their city with stations they then feel they need to start building skyscrapers?
I think i am starting to understand what some of you guys have been saying about skyscraper sprawl.

I view this as smart growth. Density around transit centers has been a concept repeated throughout the Nation.

...of course when I mean smart growth, I am thinkng on the lines of urban style density.

[wrendog]

I think it's great to have suburban centers. BUT more in the range of 10-12 story buildings densely built in a TOD.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by shakman

I view this as smart growth. Density around transit centers has been a concept repeated throughout the Nation.

...of course when I mean smart growth, I am thinkng on the lines of urban style density.

Ok I know I'm kind of going back on my argument by saying that Draper shouldn't get skyscrapers when I have said that cities should have a right to grow. ( Like Sandy ) But I can't picture Draper with Skyscrapers. But I do picture Sandy.
Yea it could be smart growth, as long as it is all walkable. Mid rises won't be bad for draper around the station. Kind of like the fairclay project in Murray. God I'm starting to sound like Urbanboy and DM Tower now. LOL
I just think if there are going to be skyscrapers in the south end of the valley then it should be in Sandy. ( Because I love Sandy so much. )
But no really Sandy already has a area rezone and set up for highrises. Sandy should be the hub for the South end of the valley for highrises. Draper doesn't really have a city core set up yet.

Originally Posted by wrendog

I think it's great to have suburban centers. BUT more in the range of 10-12 story buildings densely built in a TOD.

10-12 stories buildings won't look that bad, but anything higher would look werid since the tallest building in Draper is what 3 or 4 stories?

[SLC Projects]

Skyscraper Sprawl?


If every city had it's way. Almost every city on the east side would have their own little skyline.


What do you guys think? Is this too much of a good thing? Should only a few cities have skyscrapers? What are your thoughts?

[urbanboy]

Hey Projects, if Draper were to build skyscrapers, it would be in the area the city is rezoning (along the Draper TRAX extension). Now imagine all those buildings in downtown!
It would be nice if the areas you shaded in pink were the extent of each city's footprint, and everything else could be greenbelts of permaculture and open space.
Think of how clean our air would be!

[shakman]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

Ok I know I'm kind of going back on my argument by saying that Draper shouldn't get skyscrapers when I have said that cities should have a right to grow. ( Like Sandy ) But I can't picture Draper with Skyscrapers. But I do picture Sandy.
Yea it could be smart growth, as long as it is all walkable. Mid rises won't be bad for draper around the station. Kind of like the fairclay project in Murray. God I'm starting to sound like Urbanboy and DM Tower now. LOL
I just think if there are going to be skyscrapers in the south end of the valley then it should be in Sandy. ( Because I love Sandy so much. )
But no really Sandy already has a area rezone and set up for highrises. Sandy should be the hub for the South end of the valley for highrises. Draper doesn't really have a city core set up yet.


10-12 stories buildings won't look that bad, but anything higher would look werid since the tallest building in Draper is what 3 or 4 stories?

I am a big advocate of walkability hence why I am a fan of the grid system for streets.

I also like to go for 10 mile walks in urban areas. I believe my personnal record was 20 miles in Philly in one day.

I also of course like green space to dot urban landscapes as well. IMO, green space can make an area more pedestrian friendly as compared to just walls of concrete and glass.

[MetroFanatic]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

I'm not sure about the West Valley or the Front Runner south line, but I know that they are doing actual work on the West Jordan line. I pass under the future Trax bridge a couple of times a week on 7800 S, between Gardner Village and the Jordan River. They are working on building up the west side of the track in order to make the bridge two tracks wide or possibly a completely new, and wider bridge.

I've been saying it for a few weeks now, but there is some fast moving work going on alongside Old Bingham Highway. In fact, they have some odd looking thing in place of where the 4800 West stop is going to be.

[Makid]

There is noticable work happening on the east side of Redwood on Research drive for the West Valley line. A lot of the work isn't visible as they are working on the bridge across the Union Pacific tracks near 2100 south.

[i-215]

Hey everyone! I rode Frontrunner for the first time today (Saturday). My only complaint: It is REALLY EXPENSIVE to ride! Something like $12.00 round trip. With two people it's cheaper to drive, but I enjoyed the novelty of it.

I'll post a few of my own pictures tomorrow.

[delts145]

Ground is broken for highway at 11400 South - State Road 175 to run between State, Bangerter

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1...259381,00.html


Laura Seitz, Deseret News.

DRAPER — Business, state and local-government leaders broke ground Thursday afternoon on what will be a five-lane, $250 million highway at 11400 South, spanning five miles between State Street and Bangerter Highway, with an interchange at Interstate 15.
The highway, which will be called state Road 175, will have onramps and offramps at I-15 and will be the first east-west connection in Salt Lake County in a decade that is tied to the freeway...

..."It'll enable folks to travel east and west across this valley like they've never been able to before, to do their business, to do their errands, to visit family, and to be able to be mobile and connected to the rest of this valley," said UDOT executive director John Njord at a small ceremony before the groundbreaking along the border of South Jordan and Draper.

...Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. called the highway "absolutely essential and critical" because of population growth in the area. He believes that the state needs to expand infrastructure to help usher in economic growth.
"So this thing called growth, all you have to do is look at where we are today and extrapolate the numbers out to 2030," Huntsman said. "Jordan, Riverton, Sandy and Draper — they'll all come together. It's going to see a 90 percent increase in population. Now, try to wrap your mind around that."

South Jordan Mayor Kent Money said his city's population currently is 52,000 but will rise to nearly 100,000 when open spaces in the town are developed, including the Daybreak neighborhood, a development by Kennecott Utah Copper.

The highway will be finished in the fall of 2010, with the freeway interchange opening at the same time. To make way for the road, UDOT purchased about 20 houses, which it will demolish, said Dan Young, UDOT's project manager for the highway.

"Some of the parcels we're going to leave as open space," said UDOT deputy director Carlos Braceras. The open space was one of the compromises UDOT made with the groups of residents who had sued the agency...

.

[delts145]

World's largest air carrier - Delta, Northwest airlines to merge -- and Salt Lake International to benefit

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_10851540

"Salt Lake is going to be a really important part of the network in the new Delta," said Ed Bastian, the airline's president and chief financial officer, during a conference call with reporters. "I think Salt Lake City in fact comes out as really one of the winners in this deal because [it] is now the westernmost hub in the U.S. for the world's largest airline."


..

[MetroFanatic]

All right. I am absolutely obsessed with the new TRAX cars to be coming soon. I'm sure we would have heard something by now, but I was thinking anyway:

With the student TRAX passes, there is a new feature going to be introduced in December for a scan when you get on (and off?) the train. I was wondering if this meant the new trains would be showing up by then. It seems kind of pointless to install a system on a bunch of cars that are going to be switched up anyway.

[Future Mayor]

I hate to burst your bubble but it's not as if they are discontinuing the use of the current cars. They are simply adding additional cars for more capacity on the current lines and for the new lines coming on board in the next few years. As much as I would like the entire Trax fleet to be the new cars, we'll still be seeing the current cars running for many years into the future. I would imagine that they may get rid of a few cars but not many. It would be nice is they could sell the really bulky ones to another transit system and slowly discontinue those ones as least.

[MetroFanatic]

But they are so cold!

[i-215]

Barf-a-rolla ....



Say hello to the Diverging Diamond! Coming soon to the American Fork Main Street exit. I saw this a few months ago on the Transportation subboard, and I really had mixed feelings about it then.

On the one hand ...

Cars crossing onto the oncoming lanes sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

On the other hand ...

A lot of people (including me) were originally critical of SPUI's on I-15, and now I think they are awesome.

What do you guys think? Diverging diamond a good or bad thing?

[arkhitektor]

I guess we'll have to wait and see.
But why is this better than a SPUI interchange?

It seems that UDOT is becoming the country's testing ground for new transportation concepts and building techniques.

[Future Mayor]

It has just two sets of lights rather than the typical four on the SPUI. It took people a little while to get used to the SPUI as well as the new Bangeter interchange at 35th S.

I think it is a great solution, if it moves traffic quicker and smoother than I'm all for it. Less idling cars + less pollution in the air.

I think it's great that UDOT is so progressive in it's building techniques. We were the first in the US to implement the new bridge building program and now look how successful it has been. If UDOT wasn't pioneering these new techniques in the state, people would be bitching about how behind the times UDOT is etc, etc.

[i-215]

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

I guess we'll have to wait and see.
But why is this better than a SPUI interchange?

It seems that UDOT is becoming the country's testing ground for new transportation concepts and building techniques.

I think a SPUI requires a much larger (read "expensive") bridge and a slightly larger right of way. A SPUI to superior in every way, but they are strapped for cash, so they are building this instead.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by i-215

I think a SPUI requires a much larger (read "expensive") bridge and a slightly larger right of way. A SPUI to superior in every way, but they are strapped for cash, so they are building this instead.

Just from looking at the rendering of this thing, it looks like it occupies a larger right-of-way than a SPUI and requires 2 bridges instead of one bridge for a SPUI.

So far, UDOT seems like they know what they're doing and all of their bizarre interchange/intersection solutions have been quite successful, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one as well.