KCPW April 2008

Sugar House Trolley Project On the Move

Apr 03, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker's campaign promise to bring trolleys back to Sugar House could move closer to reality next week. Becker says a study conducted over the winter determined a trolley line is the best transit solution for the neighborhood.

"We are moving ahead very, very aggressively to get that line, finish studies on that line and to move into construction," Becker says.

The $40 million project is more affordable than extending TRAX to Sugar House, he says. And trolleys travel at slower speeds and make more stops than light-rail, he says. The trolleys would use an existing rail corridor that skirts the South Salt Lake City boundary, at roughly 2100 South, and connects to the North-South TRAX Line at State Street.

"That corridor serves a lot of people, both in South Salt Lake City and in Sugarhouse. It would help relieve congestion. And the more people we have in transit, the more we are helping improve air quality and the long-range issue with climate change," Becker says.

The city's Redevelopment Agency will decide April 8 whether to fund a portion of the environmental impact study for the project. The request asks the RDA to contribute between $33,000 and $100,000 for the study. The other partners in the project, the UTA and South Salt Lake City, have each agreed to pay a third of the $300,000 study.

Posted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW