A new TRAX light rail line is making its way to the station.
Last month, the Utah Transit Authority finalized its plan for a new Orange Line route that will link Salt Lake City International Airport with the University of Utah’s Research Park. The new train is expected to roll in by 2032, and UTA plans to change the routes of its existing Red, Green and Blue TRAX lines — adding new destinations while making Salt Lake City’s light rail faster than ever.
(Utah Transit Authority) The Utah Transit Authority will add a new TRAX light rail line connecting the University of Utah to Salt Lake International City Airport.
The transit agency selected a plan that it says will make the whole system faster and slightly better for the environment than other proposed options, according to a final report on the project.
Eight new TRAX stations will also be built to accommodate the new rail line and other route changes at the following locations:
• Orange Line station at 300 South and 400 West.
• Shared Orange and Red Line station near West Temple at 75 W. 400 South.
• Shared Orange and Red Line station near Pioneer Park at 325 W. 400 South.
• Orange Line station along Mario Capecchi Drive and Arapeen Drive.
• Orange Line station along Arapeen Drive near Wakara Way.
• Red Line station at 400 W. 600 South.
• Red Line station at 400 W. 800 South.
• Red Line station at 300 West, near 1065 South.
The Red Line will still connect the U. to Daybreak in South Jordan, but will modify its route in Salt Lake City to serve the Granary District. The Blue Line’s westernmost stop will move to the Salt Lake City airport instead of Salt Lake Central Station. Conversely, the Green Line’s westernmost stop will become Salt Lake Central Station instead of the airport.
The new routes will be far cheaper to create than the other options UTA was considering, with a one-time capital cost of about $400 million to make the changes, plus a roughly $17 million increase in the annual operations and maintenance costs of the TRAX lines. The second-cheapest option would have cost the agency $460 million up front, plus an $18 million increase to operations and maintenance every year.
How UTA will fund the project hasn’t been decided yet, but officials are eyeing state and federal dollars, said Alex Beim, the agency’s manager of long-range and strategic planning.
The project will now go through a federally mandated environmental review, said Patti Garver, UTA’s manager of environmental compliance and sustainability. The agency is hiring a consultant to oversee the review process, which could take up to two years.
For that review, UTA will submit an additional service option on top of what already is outlined in its chosen route plans: an Orange Line connection to Salt Lake Central Station. Beim said the stop will be studied in case the agency stumbles upon additional money to pay for it.
“That would sort of future-proof things,” Beim said, pointing to Salt Lake City’s plans for development in the nearby Rio Grande District. “Because the thing that happens often is, if we don’t take advantage of securing a corridor when we have it, something gets built there, and then it’s either impossible or much more difficult to utilize in the future.”
After the review, UTA will put the finishing touches on the construction design and work to secure funding, which will likely take another two years. Workers won’t break ground on the new TRAX line until around 2029, with service expected to be up and running by 2032, Beim said.
Utah Transit Riders Union co-founder Chris Stout is excited for the new TRAX line, but said UTA needs to “pick a lane” with which transit station will be Salt Lake City’s main transportation hub to avoid duplicating services between North Temple and Salt Lake Central stations, which can be inconvenient for riders.
Overall, though, Stout is hopeful for the efficiency the new project will bring to riders beyond downtown Salt Lake City.
“There’s a lot more options for everybody across the entire county to get to the airport, and more direct connections for everybody coming from Ogden and Provo to get to the university and to get to the airport,” Stout said. “It means a lot for riders to get where they need to go.”
