Rail finally to get real

Perhaps as early as next week, Steve Meyer plans to slip into his office and do a dance of joy.

After years of planning and preparing paperwork, Meyer expects to have approval to begin some on-the-ground work for commuter rail — a 44-mile transit project from Salt Lake City into Davis and Weber counties.

It's a milestone for the Utah Transit Authority and Meyer, manager of commuter rail construction. "Now we get to start doing something," said UTA spokesman Justin Jones.

Today, a 30-day comment period on the final environmental study of commuter rail will end. As early as the end of next week, UTA could receive one of two federal approvals that come with the completion of environmental work: the Record of Decision.

The second approval, known as a Letter of No Prejudice, should be obtained before the end of the month.

These approvals mark the midpoint of a lengthy process to complete commuter rail by early 2008. With the Letter and Record of Decision, UTA can begin negotiations to purchase property from cities and private land owners.

Utility work along the rail corridor could begin in June. This ranges from extension of drainage systems and relocation of gas and refinery pipes to installation of fiber optic lines.

Fill work can begin, and UTA can start negotiations to purchase new commuter rail cars. Price negotiations with the project's contractor will also begin.

"It allows us to get going," said Meyer. "The holy grail is the full-funding grant agreement, but in advance of that, it allows us to get started. These items are on the critical path and they need to get started before the full-funding agreement."

The full-funding agreement is a final federal approval that allows UTA to begin all aspects of construction. It is a "contract" between UTA and the Federal Transit Administration that determines the amount of federal funds contributed to the project, said Meyer.

The agreement could be obtained as early as this fall, according to Meyer.

Davis County leaders say sooner is better.

"A lot of people see us pushing for the Legacy Highway because that's become such a visible fight," said Wilf Sommerkorn, Davis County director of community and economic development. "We're just as aggressive with commuter rail."

The line will give residents who travel into Salt Lake County an alternative to driving, said Sommerkorn. It could also spur job growth. At least one large-scale development is being planned along the line, centered around the Farmington commuter rail station.

Sommerkorn admits, however, that commuter rail won't make much difference in traffic volumes. And one Utah resident is banking on that observation to slow the progress of commuter rail.

Michael Packard, a Sandy engineer and longtime opponent of UTA, says commuter rail will pollute the air and steal money from taxpayers. Commuter rail will have diesel engines that emit the pollutant nitrogen oxide.

"It's just a waste and UTA will run it just like they're running millions of miles of empty buses," he said. "It is just insane to be dumping that kind of money into UTA."

Cost of the project is estimated around $500 million. Projections for opening-day ridership is estimated around 5,900 per weekday. TRAX averages 44,000 riders on weekdays.

For more information, visit: www.rideuta.com.

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E-MAIL: nwarburton@desnews.com