Plan for 2 TRAX stops is a problem for Gateway

Developers of The Gateway have accused Salt Lake City of disregarding the needs of the downtown mall in planning a future TRAX extension.

Developers Roger Boyer and Kem Gardner told the City Council on Tuesday that building a TRAX station at 125 S. 400 West would strangle parking access to The Gateway's summer garage, which opens onto 400 West.

"I've got everything in my life invested in Gateway," Gardner said during a break from the council meeting. "I don't think they owe us anything, but at least they don't have to hurt us. When you make it tough for people to park, then they don't come downtown."

The Utah Transit Authority and the city administration want to build two TRAX stations between the current end of the line at 100 South and 400 West, and the Intermodal Hub at 200 South and 600 West — the one on 400 West and the other at 525 W. 200 South. But Boyer and Gardner think that one stop at 525 W. 200 South would be plenty.

The City Council was scheduled to decide the number of stops at its meeting Tuesday. But after hearing from Boyer, it delayed the decision until Thursday.

The city and UTA want a contract in place by the end of April because UTA wants to begin construction this summer. The agency plans to finish the extension in late 2007 — before commuter rail from Weber County comes to Salt Lake City in 2008.

Council members also were concerned about the cost of the project. A 10-month-old estimate puts the project cost around $30 million for the two stations, and it's not known exactly how the city, UTA and the federal government would split costs of the extension.

Boyer said the city's argument that two stations will fuel future economic development stomps on The Gateway's contributions to the downtown economy.

"Why don't they pay attention to a project that's already built as opposed to a speculative project that hasn't taken place?" said Boyer, who hired his own consultant to study the feasibility of one station over two.

Almost 99 percent of The Gateway's visitors come by car, said Jake Boyer, a partner in the Boyer Co. That percentage may increase with a TRAX line running right past the mall, he said, but the line would restrict 65 percent to 70 percent of the traffic turning into the summer parking garage.

"It's imperative to us to make sure that we maintain the access into that garage," Jake Boyer said. "If they can figure out a way to do a station that has a left-hand turn lane, then we're open to that, then we're willing to compromise."