Blocked train crossings are a frustrating part of life for Salt Lake City west-siders, but change is coming down the tracks.

Patriot Rail, a national railroad company, is planning to move some operations of its Salt Lake Garfield and Western Railway subsidiary out of the yard at roughly South Temple and 1100 West to a new interchange just south of Interstate 80 and west of 5600 West.

The current facility, known as the East Yard, contributes to long delays — and, therefore, vehicle idling — at crossings on 800 West, 900 West and, when it’s open, 1000 West.

“By relocating [the railway’s] interchange and yard activity farther west,” Patriot Rail CEO Brandy Christian said in a news release, “we can achieve a more efficient rail operation while reducing congestion at neighborhood crossings.”

Patriot Rail originally won a nearly $14 million grant from the federal government in 2018 to open the new yard farther west, but delays and costs have piled up since then. Now, the changes will require over $31 million. Last week, board members with the Utah Inland Port, where the new facility will operate, voted to pitch in $500,000 to help the company cover the extra costs. Patriot Rail is privately funding the remainder.

The interchange is set to help the railway run freight trains more efficiently and increase capacity, according to the joint news release from the company and the port. The organizations said the project will also take more belching big rigs off of west-side roads.

Both shortline railways, like the Salt Lake Garfield and Western, and mainline railroads, like Union Pacific, operate railswitching facilities like the East Yard to move around railcars and the goods inside of them.

Blocked train crossings are a significant headache in Utah’s capital, where numerous street-level rail intersections require drivers, bikers and walkers to stop as a train goes by or sometimes even comes to a halt.

While Patriot Rail’s East Yard operations create blockages on north-south roads, the 900 West intersection is a particular pain point for west-siders looking to make connections to North Temple, the interstates and nearby businesses.

“West-side residents have been clear that blocked crossings and industrial impacts affect daily life,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in the release. “This project is a tangible step toward addressing those concerns. By reducing rail conflicts and vehicle idling, we can help families move more safely and reliably through their neighborhoods.”

Not only do the blocked crossings create transportation frustration, but they also contribute to poor air quality on the west side as drivers leave their engines running as they wait for trains to go by. Patriot Rail said the new interchange will reduce idling.

Christian Lenhart, one of the backers of the Rio Grande Plan to bury some of Salt Lake City’s railroad tracks, said residents should know that there will still be long freight trains moving through the crossings.

“As the Inland Port continues to grow, so will the number of freight trains,” Lenhart said. “The only way to solve this issue … is to grade separate the railroad tracks through downtown, and the Rio Grande Plan is the only realistic and cost-effective way to achieve that goal.”

The utility work to support the new yard is underway. The company expects further construction to start by the end of 2026 and operations to begin moving west early in 2027. A spokesperson for Patriot Rail said the company did not have any future plans for the East Yard site at the moment.