From Deseret News archives:
Valley leaders take smooth ride
Work on S.L.-Provo rail may begin next month
Or from Orem to Lehi. Or Vineyard to American Fork and on up to Ogden and Pleasant View in Weber County.
Imagination won't be needed much longer. Work on FrontRunner commuter rail from Salt Lake City to Provo could begin as soon as next month and be complete as early as 2011. That news and a ride on FrontRunner during a trial run between Woods Cross and Kaysville left Utah Valley leaders with big smiles Friday.
"I'm really impressed," Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn said. "It's really a smooth ride. I'm excited. I think it'll be a great alternative to the car. ... I'm not sure our residents realize how soon this is coming."
They'll be getting what most said they wanted. Sixty-nine percent of Utah Valley voters approved boosting the county's sales tax by a quarter-cent in November 2006. The money is primarily earmarked to pay for FrontRunner commuter rail.
To Washburn and Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson, timing is crucial. A massive $3.5 billion expansion of I-15 that will clog the freeway through Utah Valley could start by 2011 or 2012.
"We have to have FrontRunner before I-15 reconstruction begins," Washburn said.
Commuter rail opponents say many people won't use it because a total trip, including time to and from the rail stations, can take longer than a car trip, but Friday's ride appeared to make cases for both sides. From the park-and-ride lot in Woods Cross, the FrontRunner trial run sped along faster than every vehicle moving parallel to it on northbound I-15, but not by much, and stops at stations negate the higher speeds.
On the return trip, FrontRunner flew past traffic paralyzed by construction on southbound I-15.
Commuter rail from Salt Lake City north to Pleasant View, called FrontRunner North, is scheduled to open in the next few months.
Utility and drainage crews could begin work on the spur to Provo, dubbed FrontRunner South, after the first of the year, said Steve Meyer, commuter rail project manager for the Utah Transit Authority. Real construction is expected later in 2008.
FrontRunner South will cover 45 miles from Salt Lake City to Provo. The seven stops between those two stations are Orem, Vineyard, American Fork, Lehi, Draper/Bluffdale, Sandy/South Jordan and Murray.
Recent comments
As someone who owned a car in the Bay Area, believe me, this is going...
From San JOse | Jan. 23, 2008 at 5:02 p.m.
Yeah, but don't you still have to drive one car to a Park & Ride lot...
Chico Jorge | Dec. 1, 2007 at 9:15 p.m.
boy george,
Most families have 2 or more cars. All those other...
l | Dec. 1, 2007 at 8:34 p.m.
- Tigers vs. Miners by the numbers 2:32 a.m.
- Springville vs. Dixie by the numbers 2:25 a.m.
- Wasatch vs. Juan Diego numbers 2:22 a.m.
- Mustangs vs. Tbirds by the numbers 2:02 a.m.
- Nuggets win after clock review 1:41 a.m.
- Robbery ends poorly for one suspect 1:20 a.m.
- Wednesday on TV 12:59 a.m.
- Integration is possible on TV 12:59 a.m.
- Herbert talks land issues in D.C. 12:59 a.m.
- Developer looking to buy RSL share 12:58 a.m.
- Utah group finds homes for orphans
- Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
- Y. tight ends talented tandem
- Hair-pulling raises more questions
- Jazz blow big lead, hang on
- Utes get extra motivation
- BYU soccer incident still popular
- Senators want food tax restored
- Lobo land like home for BYU lineman
- U. hopes to keep clicking
- House passes health care bill
266 - TCU showdown has big implications
188 - Lobo suspended
185 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Senators want food tax restored
153 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - No 'backlash' for pioneers, gays analogy
105 - S.L. vote pending on gay protections
104 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants nationwide will honor...
Meghan McCain, the daughter of former presidential candidate John...
Tag would play hard, but only when he felt like it. This year's team seems to...
Sounds like a national championship for the Cougars. Look out Kansas and...
Chris, do you have any idea what this bill will do to our country? Do you...
Whittingham will have the team ready for Saturday. Unlike some coaches in...
I live in a country in Africa that the common person makes maybe 50 dollars a...
Perhaps the books by Sean, Glenn, and Rush are not for Sundays for the other...
While I agree that this is a move in the right direction, I am confused about...
BYU did look good. The tragedy of this team is that it takes them a beatdown...
HAs never targeted people with same gender attraction as individuals, what...
can't play when defense puts on pressure. He will throw interceptions. ...



