Intermodal hub is ready for prime time

When former Mayor Deedee Corradini first proposed the eventual location for Salt Lake City's intermodal hub, many city leaders compared the site to "Outer Mongolia."

And in the late '90s the location along 600 West near 300 South did seem a world away from downtown Salt Lake City — the place many city leaders felt the hub should be located.

Now, as local and federal politicians prepare to dedicate the hub on Tuesday, the site seems a bit closer. The Gateway mixed-use center and other developments have stretched the western borders of downtown nearer to the hub's 600 West address.

Originally criticized by Mayor Rocky Anderson, his administration is now enamored with the hub location. And other city, federal and transit leaders are similarly keen on the site, which remains nine long blocks from the heart of downtown Salt Lake City.

"It doesn't feel like it's so far out of downtown anymore," said Mary Guy-Sell, the city's hub consultant. "It's just really ideal."

The hub wouldn't have worked closer to downtown, Guy-Sell said, because there are too many buses that need to access it, and any downtown location would have been too cramped.

When it reaches full capacity in 2008, the hub will serve as a transportation nerve center, complete with an Amtrak station, Greyhound bus depot, Utah Transit Authority bus transfer station, light rail station, commuter rail station, taxi cab stands, amenities for bikers and possibly even a parking garage for reverse commuters — those who live in Salt Lake City but commute into the suburbs to work.

"It will basically be Utah's busiest transfer point," UTA spokesman Justin Jones said.

Still, even with all those plans, the location may present problems for the hub's future viability and sustainability. There are concerns that eventually most northern commuter rail riders will never make it to the hub.

Recently the Wasatch Front Regional Council and the Utah Transit Authority agreed to construct a new commuter rail stop at North Temple, several blocks closer to downtown than the intermodal hub.

Jones said the station is on the regional council's primary funding list and could be open as early as 2012. City officials maintain such a time frame may be overly optimistic and note the city hasn't done any planning for a North Temple stop.

Moreover, that stop wouldn't have access to light rail until the proposed Salt Lake City International Airport extension is built.