From Deseret News archives:
Private venture for Sugar House trolley proposed
The Salt Lake man has a vision of bringing back a piece of Salt Lake City's past in the form of a trolley line that would service commuters between Sugar House and the 2100 South TRAX station in South Salt Lake. But before that dream can come true, White has some pretty tall hurdles to jump with various city, state and federal agencies — even if he raises the well over $2 million to build the system.
The idea sprouted after he heard stories about Salt Lake's old trolley car system from his grandmother, White said. Using streetcars imported from the former East Germany that would run on a cleaner-burning form of diesel, White said members of his family would help run the private venture, with some form of cooperative agreement with the Utah Transit Authority.
Some local officials are more hot on the idea than others.
"I think Doug has some good ideas and I think he's a great guy," said UTA director of transit development Mike Allegra. "But in the end I need to be more businesslike and need to see some hard numbers."
Allegra said UTA would support White's Sugar House trolley, and even consider allowing him to use the existing rail lines, which UTA owns. But first, White must show a solid business plan that must not only show funding sources but convince UTA officials that the system will be safe for riders. Allegra also made it clear that UTA would likely not consider lending any funding to the project.
UTA is not the only government agency that White will have to get on board. Allegra said approval from the Federal Railroad Administration and even the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, for White's workers, needs to be sought.
Just being able to have the trolley cross any one of the intersecting streets, such as 700 East and State Street, will require the consent of Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake as well as the Utah Department of Transportation. White estimates that the crossing lights and arms required at each street will cost $110,000 each, not to mention the $35,000 shipping cost to bring the trolley cars from Germany.
"It's a very interesting plan," said Mike Seely, chief railroad engineer for UDOT. "We're comfortable with what he wants to do." Seely said he has already sat down with White and talked about his plans.
