Rail line closure hinges on fed funds

An agreement between Salt Lake City and Union Pacific Railroad to close permanently the 900 South rail line hinges on the receipt of tens of millions of dollars from the federal government.

The agreement, announced this past week, centers on the rebuilding of an excessively sharp turn at Grant's Tower in the Union Pacific rail yard, near The Gateway shopping mall.

If that turn — which forces trains to slow down to 10 mph throughout the rail yard and can cause delays of up to two hours for trains passing through Salt Lake City — can be redesigned to allow trains to move more quickly, the 900 South line would not be necessary, said Bob Turner, vice president of corporate communications for Union Pacific.

"The Grant's Tower project represents a very important opportunity for our company," Turner said. "It will eliminate one of our bottlenecks."

Fixing the turn will cost approximately $40 million, however, 90 percent of which the city and railroad are hoping to convince the federal government to fund. Turner said there is money for projects which improve the quality of life for people near rail lines, and that it is similar to other projects for which the company has received federal funding. Union Pacific will spend $4.5 million on the project, which he said would probably take "several years" to complete.

The deal was announced by Mayor Rocky Anderson, who said that when the 900 South rail line has closed, the land will be deeded to the city for use as open and park space. The permanent closing of the line also would allow the city to bring City Creek to the surface in the Poplar Grove area and create a connecting trail with the Jordan River Parkway.

Most importantly, Anderson said, would be the closing of the line, which has significantly deteriorated the quality of life for residents near the line.

"This is the conclusion we've been seeking for more than a year," Anderson said. "This is great news for our entire city, and especially for those now impacted by the reactivation of the 900 South line."

Frank Pignanelli, who is challenging Anderson in the city's mayoral election Tuesday, criticized the timing of the announcement, pointing out that nobody from Utah's congressional delegation was at the news conference. Without federal money, he said it is "premature" to call it a resolution when it is really just an agreement that was almost reached four years earlier.

"This is an important issue, not just for the neighborhood but for the entire city," Pignanelli said. "We could have been well on the way to resolving this issue four years ago if we had a mayor who could have negotiated a deal."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com