Plan for TRAX line upgrades cut back

SALT LAKE CITY — The transformation of North Temple into a "grand boulevard" may stop at Redwood Road.

City leaders have scaled back the area planned for improvements along the North Temple TRAX line to include only the segment between 600 West and Redwood Road.

Roughly $23 million of the estimated $24.2 million project is proposed to be paid for by the city and other identified funding sources. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to collect the remaining $1.2 million through assessments levied against property owners along the street.

The planned improvements — including LED streetlights, landscaping, colored concrete and other amenities — will cost property owners $105 per foot.

The special assessment area originally included North Temple frontage from 600 West to 2400 West. However, 90 percent of property owners west of Redwood Road submitted written protests to the city, rejecting what at the time was a $110-per-foot assessment.

City engineer John Naser said 44 percent of the property owners in the revised special assessment had submitted written protests by the July 13 deadline.

"We're ready to move forward with this project," Naser said.

City crews will install eight high-efficiency, LED light posts per block, along with about $3.5 million in landscaping, said Frank Gray, the city's director of community and economic development.

City crews also will maintain the landscaping in the special assessment area.

As for the area west of Redwood Road, city crews will install the standard overhead light poles at each intersection. Topsoil or gravel will be used rather than landscaping that would require maintenance.

Train platforms along the entire route will be landscaped, Gray said.

Included in the city's portion of the cost is $4.5 million in possible sales tax bonds. Other funding sources for the project include $10 million in Airport Light Rail Alliance Funds and $3.5 million from the state Legislature.

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