West Valley City officials are concerned that, with no guarantee that light rail will travel along the 5600 West corridor in the near future, the Utah Transit Authority wants to acquire too much right of way in that area for mass transit.
As part of the Utah Department of Transportation's plan to build the Mountain View highway mostly along 6200 West, federal provisions require building a mass-transit component along 5600 West. While the first phase of the project would be a bus rapid transit (BRT) system between 2700 South and 6200 South, the plan mandates a future upgrade to a rail system, said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. That enhancement would occur in the far future, 50 years maybe, he said.
The BRT system uses a dedicated lane for the express buses.
UTA is designing a center-lane BRT corridor that allows for easier conversion into a TRAX line, but that means cutting off many left-hand turns and carving out space from certain intersections in an area that is seeing a lot of commercial growth.
"I'm not willing to sacrifice 50 years of economic viability of that road for the ideal solution 50 years from now," said Mayor Mike Winder, who said he supports mass transit and light rail, but has doubts over whether that area will ever need rail. "I think we need to make sure the road is still a vibrant working option for decades to come."
West Valley City Manager Wayne Pyle said the city made great efforts to beautify that corridor of the city by imposing design and building standards for incoming developers. While appreciating that UTA didn't create a design that would widen all of 5600 West, he said the intersections where the corridor could be enlarged would negatively affect business access and landscape design.
"If you build the line such that it's specific to bus rapid transit, it takes up a lot less right of way and a lot less property that's adjacent," Pyle said, noting a TRAX station would require a 350-foot space as opposed to a bus' 130-foot needs.
Pyle sent UTA a letter in late February outlining his concerns and doubts that light rail would be a conceivable option in the upcoming decades. He has had talks with transit officials since and adds the two entities have a good dialogue and working relationship.
UTA's Carpenter said the agency was given a federal mandate to develop a plan to first build a five-mile enhanced bus corridor in the West Valley area. The next step would be to extend the line from the airport to South Jordan, and finally replace the bus with rail, be it streetcar or light rail, he said. Though initial studies saw a $100 million price tag and possible 2011 start and 2014 end dates for the first phase of BRT, Carpenter said there is currently no funding or timeline for any part of the project.
"From a planner's perspective, you want to plan for bus rapid transit, but you want to prepare for light rail," Carpenter said, adding, because of the city's concerns, UTA is working with city officials to agree on the best option.
As a complement to the Mountain View Corridor, which largely follows 6200 West, federal provisions require building a mass transit option on 5600 West that would feature a bus rapid transit in the first phase from 2700 South to 6200 South.
The second phase of the project would be to extend the line north to Interstate 80, then east along the freeway to Salt Lake City International Airport and in the south to 11800 South.
The third phase would be to convert the transit corridor to a fixed-rail system.
There is no funding for the transit project or a timeline.
