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The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis May 18, 2012
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NEWS HEADLINES
LaHood Attends UTA Ground Breaking

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) in Salt Lake City at ground-breaking ceremonies May 9 in South Salt Lake for a two-mile modern streetcar line. The Sugar House streetcar will run from the 2100 South TRAX Station to the Sugar House commercial district near Highland Drive at approximately 2235 South, with seven stations.

LaHood called the event “a celebration of coming together, of being of one mind, of being united behind the idea that you need to have a community that really reflects the next generation of transportation. This opportunity is not about highways or roads or bridges, it’s about the next generation that’s gathered here with us today—the next generation of transportation for the next generation.”

He said the future streetcar route “will become an economic corridor for small businesses, for jobs, for opportunities, for the blossoming all along the corridor. If you build it, they will come. You watch what happens along this corridor. Once this rail line is here, you are going to see all kinds of opportunities that no one has dreamed of.”

UTA General Manager Michael Allegra agreed, saying: “It’s so exciting to see the amount of investment that’s already proposed adjacent to this line—without one track being laid yet.”

South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood said the streetcar will operate in one of the city’s strongest residential neighborhoods and a prime redevelopment area. She added: “It will help transform a corridor of aging warehouses into a vibrant urban neighborhood.”

The $55.5 million project received a $26 million federal grant through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II program. UTA, the city of South Salt Lake, and Salt Lake City provided the remainder of the funding.

“Since the announcement in October [2010] that we were the recipient of the [TIGER II] grant, we now have over a thousand units either in design, application and building phases in the Salt Lake City portion of this project,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker. “We have over $400 million of investment that is happening today because of the Sugar House streetcar from developers in partnership with us as we redevelop this corridor.”

UTA projects average ridership on the line at 3,000 weekday boardings. Upon completion, it will connect to more than 130 miles of rail service across the Wasatch Front.

 

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood speaks at May 9 ground-breaking ceremonies for UTA’s Sugar House modern streetcar line.


 

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