SSLC council resolution in favor of Streetcar

A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL AND MAYOR
ADOPTING A LOCALLY PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE FOR THE UTAH
TRANSIT AUTHORITY (UTA) TO EXTEND TRANSIT OPTIONS WITHIN
THE SUGAR HOUSE TRANSIT CORRIDOR
WHEREAS, the Utah Transit Authority (“UTA”) is a public transit district,
which presently owns and operates a high capacity rail fixed guideway system serving
portions of the Salt Lake Valley; and
WHEREAS, this rail fixed guideway system has been a major success with
ridership substantially exceeding pre-construction projections and public sentiment
strongly supporting rapid expansion of high capacity fixed guideway systems; and
WHEREAS, UTA proposes to expand fixed guideway systems to include, among
other things, a 3-mile rail fixed guideway system from the Sugar House community of
Salt Lake City to the City of South Salt Lake, as more particularly described herein (the
“Sugar House Transit Corridor”); and
WHEREAS, UTA purchased an existing railroad right of way within the Sugar
House Transit Corridor from Union Pacific in 2002, anticipating the future need for light
rail transit expansion within Salt Lake City; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City’s Sugar House Community Master Plan (adopted
December 13, 2005, Ordinance 89 of 2005) explicitly identifies in its ‘Business District
Goals and Objectives’ the theme of “directing development to be transit and pedestrian
oriented”; and
WHEREAS, the Sugar House Community Master Plan explicitly states in its
‘Multi-modal Priorities’ that future land use patterns in Sugar House should support
the implementation of mass transit throughout the community; and
WHEREAS, the Sugar House Community Master Plan explicitly states support
for the construction of “rail along the Sugar House rail corridor and determine locations
for future transit stations and park and ride facilities within the Sugar House Business
District”; and
WHEREAS, current planning efforts within the Sugar House Transit Corridor
such as the Market Station Development (South Salt Lake) and the Granite Block (Salt
Lake City) development area have anticipated the extension of rail transit along the
existing UTA owned right of way; and
WHEREAS, the Sugar House residential and business communities have
demonstrated interest and grass roots support for a surface rail alternative to improve
mobility and enhance economic opportunities within the area; and
WHEREAS, the expansion of transit alternatives via the UTA right of way in the
Sugar House Transit Corridor has been reviewed and approved as part of the Wasatch
Front Regional Council 2007-2030 Transportation Master Plan, (May 2007); and
WHEREAS, construction and operation of a fixed guideway transit system in the
Sugar House Transit Corridor will reduce reliance on the private automobile, improve air
quality, reduce the growth of vehicle miles traveled, and support the objectives of the
Wasatch Front Regional Council’s Regional Transportation Plan; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City and the City of South Salt Lake (the “City
Sponsors”) along with UTA, commissioned a study of public transportation alternatives
within the Sugar House Transit Corridor (the “Alternatives Analysis”); and
WHEREAS, prior to conducting the Alternatives Analysis, the City Sponsors
agreed upon a list of criteria to be considered to help guide the decision to determine the
proper public transportation alternative to operate within the Sugar House Transit
Corridor; and
WHEREAS, the criteria include: (1) the public transit conveyance operating
within the corridor should serve the needs of citizens living and working along the
corridor by promoting “walkable neighborhoods” where citizens can conveniently use
public transit; (2) it should provide stations or boarding platforms at a maximum spacing
of two blocks; (3) it should provide a low-speed system in which vehicles travel at speeds
not to exceed 25 to 30 miles per hour; (4) it should utilize conventional signals at street
and highway crossings that can also accommodate pedestrian crossings; (5) it should use
noise reducing technology; and (6) it should include a landscaped, multi-use trail at least
15-feet-wide throughout the entire corridor to serve as a parkway that increases beauty,
enhances socialization and contributes to the walkable nature of the surrounding
neighborhoods; (7) it should make a complete transit-to-transit connection from the 200
West Station on the North-South TRAX line to other mass transit options, including highfrequency
buses and future transit modes along the 1100 East/Highland Drive and 1300
East Street traffic corridors; and
WHEREAS, the federally required Alternatives Analysis is now complete, and
Salt Lake City has reviewed the Sugar House Transit Corridor Alternatives Study Final
Report, dated January 2008, and finds that it complies with the criteria established by the
City Sponsors and accepts its analysis of impacts, costs, environmental constraints, and
ridership; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City Transportation Master Plan Rail Transit Corridors
Map updated in July 2006 identifies the Sugar House area as a potential transit corridor;
and
WHEREAS, the Sugar House line will be a community level streetcar line and
would better serve the transit-friendly Sugar House District, parallel a portion of one of
UTA’s best performing bus routes, and provide an east-west connection with the West
Valley Line and a direct connection to the main north-south light rail line; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City understands that more specific environmental issues
will be reviewed, evaluated, and addressed during subsequent design and engineering
phases of the project as well as the final terminus of the line and at that time more
specific mitigation measures related to specific impacts will be determined; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City believes that this proposed project best meets the
needs of the City as a whole, and is in the best interest of the public health, safety, and
welfare of the City; and
WHEREAS, at its meeting on Monday 3 December 2007, the Salt Lake City
Transportation Advisory Board approved a motion supporting the findings and
recommendations of the Sugar House Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis for a
modern rail streetcar along the existing UTA-owned right of way within Salt Lake City
and South Salt Lake City, and
WHEREAS, at its meeting on Wednesday 13 February 2008, the Salt Lake City
Planning Commission approved a motion supporting the findings and recommendations
of the Sugar House Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis for a modern rail streetcar
along the existing UTA-owned right of way within Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake
City; and
WHEREAS, at its meeting on January 23, 2008, the City Council of South Salt
Lake City approved a motion supporting the findings and recommendations of the Sugar
House Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis for a modern rail streetcar along the
existing UTA owned right of way within Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake City.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor as
follows:
1. Locally Preferred Alternative. That the proposed construction of the rail
fixed guideway system for purposes of operating a modern rail streetcar along the
existing UTA owned right of way within Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake City,
identified in the Sugar House Transit Corridor Alternatives Study Final Report, dated
January 2008, is endorsed and approved by the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor as the
Locally Preferred Alternative.
2. Effective Date. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon
its passage.