Some people complained, fumed, even filed lawsuits over what they saw as an expensive, disruptive boondoggle.
Today, five years after the 15-mile TRAX line from Sandy to the Delta Center opened, the trains are absolutely packed during rush hours and before and after big downtown events. A branch line runs out to the University of Utah, filled through the day with students, visitors to the U.'s medical facilities and, on game day, a sea of Ute red.
It will forever stick in the craw of some good people that UTA leaders got the blinking thing built despite the fact that a 1992 ballot referendum to raise the money was rejected by the voters. And some downtown business people - and understandably bitter former downtown business people - will never forgive TRAX for the disruption to Main Street commerce during construction.
But, although it may be after the fact, TRAX has received a solid vote of confidence from its many riders, some 43,000 every business day. It is also the chief prize sought by leaders of several surrounding communities.
TRAX should also receive the endorsement of a great many others who never ride those rails but who do benefit from the fact that the lines do, even if ever-so-slightly, ease the burden on the city's air quality, highways and, of special interest to downtown, parking.
A modern city demands a modern public transit system and, these days, that means a light-rail system of the sort that also runs in cities from Dallas to Denver to Portland, Ore. It will further demand the other alternatives being planned by UTA - a heavier-gauge commuter rail system and bus rapid-transit lanes.
Of course, just like a TRAX train, the public transit needs of the Salt Lake Valley are constantly in motion.
TRAX doubters have long suggested that the light-rail system does not so much serve new passengers as it siphons them off from various bus routes that now run less-than-full. If that is not the case, it should be painstakingly documented. It if is, then bus routes should be altered, even reduced, accordingly.
And, like any large vehicle that runs so often and so rapidly through busy neighborhoods, the risk a TRAX train poses to other vehicles and to pedestrians cannot be ignored just because the train has become a familiar sight. Efforts to cut down on the number of injuries and fatal accidents involving TRAX must continue, by UTA and by those who walk or drive nearby.
On balance, though, there can be no question the people who pushed and shoved TRAX into the world of reality did all of the Salt Lake Valley a favor. And they are poised to do more.
