A new Sugar House construction project is on the horizon: an extension of the S-Line.
The Utah Transportation Commission has voted to extend the streetcar’s rail line across Highland Drive. The third-of-a mile project will put the streetcar’s last stop on the east side of Highland Drive, according to commission documents.
The project was initially approved for a $21.9 million budget when the final stop was planned for the west side of Highland Drive. Last week’s approval added $9 million from the state Transit Transportation Investment Fund and over $12.3 million in funds from Salt Lake City and the Utah Transit Authority, bringing the project’s total price tag to about $43.2 million.
(Utah Transportation Commission) The Utah Transportation Commission approved an extension to the S-Line streetcar in Sugar House last week.
The transit agency hopes to award a construction contract for the project in early 2026, said Josh Van Jura, UTA transit and trails director. The project will likely break ground sometime next spring and be completed by late spring or early summer in 2027.
“This is where the line needs to go,” commissioner at-large and Park City attorney Tom Jacobson said during the Friday meeting. “It may not have the ridership today that some people have noted, but it has a lot of potential, It also has the potential for tying in a future rail line that may be built.”
Sugar House is one of Salt Lake City’s most rapidly growing areas, Mayor Erin Mendenhall said during the Aug. 15 meeting, and the S-Line extension will help circulation of traffic in the often-congested neighborhood.
Mendenhall pointed to one of the area’s biggest draws: the Sugar House University of Utah Health Center, which serves about 600 patients each day with a staff of about 400 people.
The extension would cut a 15-minute walk to the clinic from the S-Line’s final stop to two minutes, making transit a more attractive option for at least a thousand people per day, she added.
“An extension would also connect dozens of shopping, dining and entertainment options to the roughly $2 billion worth of apartment units now located along the streetcar corridor,” Mendenhall said. “This sort of increased circulation within the neighborhood would take some of the burden of vehicular traffic off our streets, allowing those who need to drive to do so more quickly and more easily.”
Several main arteries through the business heart of Sugar House, mainly surrounding 2100 South, have been snarled with recent road construction. Construction began in spring 2024 for an upgraded 2100 South from 700 East to 1300 East, which is expected to be completed in October.