5600 W. transit line appears in jeopardy

A transit line along 5600 West may no longer be part of a long-range plan for Salt Lake County because planners say it might not carry enough passengers to be worth the cost.

About two weeks ago, the Wasatch Front Regional Council removed the transit line from a draft update of its long-range plan. The Sierra Club is fighting the removal, saying that the engineering models used to determine that the transit line wouldn't work are faulty.

Models run by the Utah Department of Transportation also show that a transit line would work along 5600 West. UDOT has been looking at transit as part of an environmental study of the Mountain View Corridor, which may run along 5600 West.

"It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for WFRC to justify a new eight-lane freeway and then say that there is no demand for transit," Marc Heileson, regional representative for the Sierra Club, said Tuesday.

The Sierra Club and Utahns for Better Transportation are asking the regional council reconsider its decision. Both groups were part of a lawsuit that successfully halted construction of the Legacy Parkway in 2001 because of environmental issues and the fact that transit was not studied as an alternative to the road.

Heileson said Tuesday that the regional council's engineering models have proven inaccurate in the past. TRAX was only projected to have about 16,000 riders a day, Heileson said. It carries 58,000.

"It's not a reality base for what happens on the ground," he said.

Sam Klemm, spokesman for the regional council, said his group was aware of the Sierra Club's concerns, but that the decision to remove the transit line was not yet a done deal. Comment is still being sought on its long-range plan update, he said.

The long-range plan is something the regional council does to determine where possible roads or transit lines could be built to help with congestion over the next 20-30 years.

Teri Newell, UDOT project manager for Mountain View, said Tuesday that she planned to submit a comment to the regional council, saying that UDOT believed transit would work.

"We think it makes sense to have it put at 5600 West," she said. "It's easier to make it pedestrian-friendly than to have a transit line along the Mountain View Corridor."

Studies by the regional council show that a bus line along Mountain View may be more cost-effective than 5600 West.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com