facebook-pixel

Letter: Salt Lake City’s paused TRAX red line is a source of serious noise pollution. Let’s get rid of it.

Chris Detrick  |  The Salt Lake Tribune
The Trax Red Line goes past construction along 400 South and 500 East in 2015.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune The Trax Red Line goes past construction along 400 South and 500 East in 2015.

The TRAX red line from the University Medical Center station to the Courthouse station is shut down and quiet for the summer. Lovely, let’s leave it that way!

TRAX is the main source of serious noise pollution on the 400 South S-curve. The rails squeal loud all year long on the steep curves and UTA is incapable of addressing this major, ongoing noise pollution. The other serious source of noise pollution on the S-curve being the after-market auto exhaust systems of the cars and motorcycles, which the Salt Lake Police Department has long proven itself incompetent to police anywhere.

Rip it out. Then UTA can restore the skinny little dribble of 1000 East to be a functional street again, so that the working contractors can park on the street and still allow traffic to flow at all. Currently, contractors parking to allow traffic to flow risk tickets from Salt Lake City Traffic Compliance — adding city insult to UTA injury.

John Otteson, Salt Lake City

Submit a letter to the editor

Support free news for Utah

sltrib.com is now free to access — no subscription required. We made this decision because we believe access to trustworthy, independent news shouldn’t depend on what you can afford — especially as misinformation and AI-generated content continue to rise.

Free to read doesn’t mean free to produce. Our reporters show up every day to ask hard questions and hold powerful institutions to account. That work takes resources. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on support from people who believe it matters. Make a donation today to fund local news that serves Utah communities.

You can help us bring more local news to more communities today.