Salt Lake City is torn in two by train tracks and travel lanes.

For more than a year, the city has asked for ideas on how to stitch it back together, and hundreds poured in. Now, officials are determining which ones could become reality.

The advisory board tasked with figuring out which potential solutions to study, however, has passed on supporting a pitch that has gotten widespread attention: the grassroots — and costly — Rio Grande Plan to bury the rail lines downtown under 500 West and restore passenger train service to the historic Rio Grande Depot.

If built, what backers call a “train box” would eliminate a handful of annoying street-level rail crossings. A loyal group of supporters has relentlessly boosted the project for years.

The advisory board thought the project was expensive, wasn’t specific enough about who would own or maintain the infrastructure, and “does not solve as many barriers” as the other projects considered in the study, Leah Jaramillo, a public engagement manager with city-hired consultants David Evans and Associates, wrote to board members.

The panel’s decision blocks what could’ve been a clear path for the Rio Grande Plan to garner further political backing. Only projects that are part of the study moving forward have a shot at a formal recommendation.

Instead, the board plans to focus on potential upgrades to 900 West, 1300 South, 200 South and other roads. Salt Lake City hopes to start implementing the transportation solutions from the final study quickly, city spokesperson Sofia Jeremias said.

In recent years, City Hall has looked to heal the east-west divide by building new pedestrian- and bike-friendly paths across it and by adding warning signs that tell drivers when a train is set to block a road.

The division, forced by railyards and Interstate 15, doesn’t just make it hard to get across town, west-siders say, it also contributes to lacking economic and social investment in their neighborhoods.

A costly plan

The Rio Grande Plan would cost at least $4 billion, according to a 2023 city analysis. More recently, the consultants guiding the city’s transportation study proposed a cheaper version: a train box for passenger rail with a freight bypass option. This approach would cost about $2 billion.

An analysis at Utah State University last year said the Rio Grande Plan would generate $12.2 billion in economic activity. The review was funded by a civic group called the All In For Utah Foundation, which is supportive of the plan.

The city’s transportation study focuses on a wider area than the Rio Grande Plan and was funded through a federal grant.

Utah Rail Passengers Association Executive Director Mike Christensen said the study’s consulting team, which includes numerous companies, didn’t give the Rio Grande Plan a fair shake.

Christensen, a member of a technical committee that is also helping with the study, said those consultants “really heavily scrutinized” the plan while not scrutinizing longstanding opposition from Union Pacific, which owns most of the tracks in the area.

Union Pacific has said it does not see benefits from the Rio Grande Plan and considers the current location of the tracks ideal for its operations.

Jeremias, the city spokesperson, defended how the plan was presented to board members.

“The project team made a concerted effort to be as neutral as possible,” she wrote in an email. She described the study team as “solution agnostic.”

Supporters not giving up

The board’s vote was disappointing for Rio Grande Plan supporters, like Ricardo Mejias, who is a member of the advisory panel. He bristled at consultants’ focus on projects they considered more feasible, including possible art installations meant to beautify west-side neighborhoods.

“You’re not really solving the real issue,” the Poplar Grove resident said, “which is that there’s a giant rail track that basically locks [in] people like me.”

The study team is set to share concept plans with all residents later this year and get more feedback.

“While it is disappointing that it would have been a very obvious way to just zip everything up together, we’re not going to stop our advocacy,” Friends of Rio Grande Depot Executive Director Danielle Parker said. “There’s still several routes to go here.”