Union Pacific to vacate 900 S. line, Rocky says

Salt Lake City and Union Pacific plan to announce an agreement next week that could lead to freight trains being permanently removed from the controversial 900 South rail line.

After putting in countless hours trying to solve the sticky 900 South issue, Mayor Rocky Anderson's administration has scheduled a press conference for Monday to detail the arrangement with the railroad. The deal, Anderson hinted Wednesday, would involve straightening a portion of curved rail line near 700 West and North Temple called Grant's Tower.

"Within the next year or two we will be able to reconfigure the Grant Tower tracks and remove the 9th South Union Pacific line from 900 South forever," Anderson said. "We anticipate an announcement concerning that very soon."

Along with Anderson and representatives from Union Pacific , Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, also is scheduled to attend Monday's press conference. Matheson will be on hand to tout some federal money that will facilitate the deal.

In the past, Anderson's administration has said reconfiguring Grant's Tower would cost between $20 million and $30 million. Those involved in the deal would not say until Monday how the reconfiguration cost will be split by the federal government, the city and the railroad.

Once reconfiguration of the line begins, it is not known how long it will take. However, Anderson said it would be one to two years.

In the past, Union Pacific representatives have said that reconfiguring Grant's Tower may be the only way freight trains would ever be removed from the 900 South line.

Union Pacific spokeswoman Kathryn Blackwell said she wouldn't comment on the deal until Monday.

"We are not able to discuss that," she said.

Grant's Tower is a sharply curved piece of track that forces freight trains to slow significantly as they pass through the western edges of downtown Salt Lake City near The Gateway mixed-use development. The slowdown creates a bottleneck that had caused, at times, a two-hour or more delay for trains trying to pass through the city.

To combat that bottleneck, UP had reactivated the 900 South line allowing trains to bypass Grant's Tower. With the track straightened, trains could move faster through the area, causing UP to have less or even no need for its 900 South line, which connects to the Grant's Tower line farther west outside city limits.