Now that lawmakers have approved a bill allowing counties to put transportation-related sales-tax increases on the ballot, Salt Lake City officials hope a light-rail line to the airport will be among the beneficiaries.

At a City Council meeting Thursday, Utah Transit Authority general manager John Inglish called the airport route "a critical regional line."

"This is a high priority for all of us," he told the council.

Even so, an extension of the TRAX light-rail line to the airport is in competition for top-priority billing with a number of other projects, including a line through the southwestern part of the Salt Lake Valley to South Jordan's Daybreak community and a line to West Valley City's downtown.

In a special session this week, the state Legislature gave Utah counties the authority to ask residents to vote on a quarter-cent sales-tax hike for transportation improvements in their counties.

A quarter of that money would have to go to preserving corridors for future roadways — likely the Mountain View Corridor in Salt Lake County — but the rest could be used for transit projects as prioritized by the Salt Lake County Council of Governments.

City Councilman Dave Buhler said that while the airport line is especially important to Salt Lake City, all of UTA's and the Wasatch Front Regional Council's transportation priorities will benefit the city.

"All of them bring people to Salt Lake City. I think we want all of them," he said.

And Inglish said an airport line would benefit Utahns statewide, not just Salt Lake City residents and out-of-town travelers.

"It's as important to the folks in Logan that there be access to the airport as it is to folks on the Wasatch Front," he said. "This is not about tourism. This is about 13,000 to 15,000 people who work at the airport, and it's about a huge parking lot filled with cars, most of which are not from out of town."

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