Salt Lake City awarded grant for downtown streetcar study

SALT LAKE CITY — The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City has been awarded a $470,000 federal grant to study options for a downtown streetcar system.

The Salt Lake City project was among 24 selected to receive a share of $25.7 million from the Federal Transit Administration. The funds will help Salt Lake City explore alignment options and operating concepts for a downtown streetcar system.

Mayor Ralph Becker said the funding allows Utah's capital city to take a "giant step" toward development of a streetcar system and provide more transit options for residents and visitors.

"With a daytime population that doubles every day, the City Creek development under way and the expansive growth of our downtown core in Salt Lake City, the timing of this funding to increase our transit options couldn’t be better," Becker said in a news release.

Analysis of the streetcar system will be conducted by a technical advisory team that includes the city’s divisions of transportation, engineering, housing and urban development, planning, sustainability and economic development, as well as the Utah Transit Authority.

The study area encompasses the section of downtown bordered by 500 East, 600 West, South Temple and 900 South.

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