U. student entries may be future TRAX stops

Three weeks ago, a handful of University of Utah students took on a challenge to redesign and fix some flaws with TRAX stations in the Salt Lake Valley.

The goal was to design something creative and functional that could be used as a station along the future Mid-Jordan TRAX line. The challenge was to convince a jury of professionals that the design had merit and solved issues like flow and seating availability that impact current TRAX stations.

On Jan. 6, eight student teams gathered at the U.'s Architecture and Planning building to have their designs judged. One team was disqualified for being late, but all received feedback and a chance to mingle with some of Utah's top architects and planners.

Three winners were selected from the bunch. The winning teams will receive $1,000 and all designs will be given to the Utah Transit Authority and its architect. Aspects of the student designs could be used for stations along the Mid-Jordan line, scheduled to be built as early as 2010.

"It's just out of the norm from the standard education to come in contact with a real project — something they know and is close to them and probably all have developed opinions about," said Ryan Smith, assistant professor in the U. College of Architecture and Planning.

Last year, Smith and one of his undergraduate classes joined with UTA to design stops for a "bus rapid transit" system, a type of fast bus that is planned for Salt Lake, Utah, Weber and Davis counties. The same collaboration was used for the TRAX station design competition, organized by Smith and Hal Johnson, UTA's bus rapid transit project manager.

Using students to design stations and bus stops allows UTA to gather fresh, innovative ideas, according to Johnson. Students also gain resume-building experience.

"We learn a lot of skills, and doing this over Christmas was a chance to use them," said Victoria Montoya, a senior studying urban planning. "It was fun."

Montoya and her partners designed a station that used cables instead of support beams to float a shelter roof above the tracks, eliminating issues with flow of traffic on and off the platform. The roof was made of translucent fabric and trees were planted in a box in the center of the station.

Steve Duncan, David Hulsberg and Daniel Kidd stuck with a fairly traditional design. They angled the roof of their shelter in a V-shape and rotated station seating so passengers faced each other.

The group was one of the three competition winners.

"We wanted it to be built," said Kidd. "We wanted it to be practical, yet have it appeal to the aesthetic."