UTA touts $90.1 million in stimulus funds

WEST JORDAN — The $90.1 million the Utah Transit Authority is receiving in federal stimulus funds for the Mid-Jordan TRAX line won't necessarily speed up construction.

The money also isn't anything on top of the $428 million in federal funding that UTA officials were expecting from the federal government for the Mid-Jordan line.

But at a news conference Friday morning, UTA officials were excited about the money anyway, saying the stimulus funds will save UTA money in interest that it would have to otherwise pay on bonds it would have taken out while waiting for the federal funds to come through.

The $428 million in federal funding — which represents 80 percent of the $535 million Mid-Jordan line — was originally going to be distributed in roughly $100 million increments over about four years. The $90.1 million that UTA will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act just comes a little early.

"It's not extra money from the government," said Ralph Jackson, UTA deputy chief of major program development. "It's just coming sooner."

Typically, every $1 billion in federal spending creates or sustains 35,000 jobs, directly or indirectly related to the construction, Jackson said. That means the $90.1 million will create about 3,500 jobs at a time of recession.

According to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the construction industry has been most severely hit by the downturn, with 16,200 jobs lost in that sector from March 2008 to March 2009..

"We think that's significant for the economy here in Utah," Jackson said.

The Mid-Jordan line spans 10.6 miles from the Daybreak planned community to the 6400 South Fashion Place stop of the Salt Lake-Sandy TRAX line. UTA crews broke ground about a year ago, and trains will be running every 15 minutes along the line in late 2011, said Gregory Thorpe, UTA's project manager over the Mid-Jordan line.

The Mid-Jordan trains will also run along the Salt Lake-Sandy line, and passengers will not have to transfer to other trains if they want to get into Salt Lake City.

Crews are currently building rail line adjacent to the freight rail formerly owned by Union Pacific, because the light rail has to be built to handle the electricity. UTA will allow Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains to run freight in the area at night, Thorpe said.

The money "doesn't speed up the projected (completion), because the contractor already has an accelerated schedule," Thorpe said.

The Mid-Jordan project is part of the FrontLines 2015 project, in which 70 miles of rail are being built by 2015. Normally, UTA has spent money on the Mid-Jordan line and waited for the federal reimbursement. Now, UTA is getting some money up front.

"It really accelerates and helps the 2015 projects," Thorpe said.

E-MAIL: lhancock@desnews.com