Reader comments
West Valley condemns land for light-rail access

John | 7:22 a.m. May 6, 2009

Why wouldn't UTA do what they want, it cost them nothing to get one of the worst run cities in our state to do it's bidding.
The term should be fair and resonable, neither side gets that point.
So in the end the infamous US Supreme courts decision on taking property for the public good,and it happens that mass transit is looked at as a public good.
Good luck to the little guy (the land owner).

arc | 7:53 a.m. May 6, 2009

Actually, WVC is one of the best run cities of it's size in the State.

UTA, well, that is the question isn't it?

sodiedog | 8:24 a.m. May 6, 2009

All this bruhaha over a left turn lane. "The common curse of manking, folly and ignorance."

Comments continue below

Anonymous | 8:41 a.m. May 6, 2009

I hope you're not insinuating that the property owner in this case is, "the little guy." Clear Channel Broadcasting has thousands of employees spread out all over the nation. They are far from a little guy, in fact, in comparison UTA would be the little guy.

WV Man | 9:48 a.m. May 6, 2009

I'm glad the council did that. Left turns acrossed TRAX lines are dangerous, and we don't need more accidents clogging our roads.

Sad abuse of power | 10:10 a.m. May 6, 2009

So all it takes is for a city council of 7 people to condemn your land and then you have to give it up? That's absurd. I wish the article would provide evidence of whether or not the land was actually "condemnable." Could my house be next if it's in the way of some public project?

This is scary.

What UTA Wants UTA Gets! | 11:05 a.m. May 6, 2009

People need to Wake Up! Down town Salt Lake City, has the Free Fare Zone and Frequency Bus Service, the Avenues and the University of Utah have good bus service. UTA has destroyed the bus system in the rest of Salt Lake County. The rest of Salt Lake County is paying the taxes for Salt Lake City.

The only things UTA care about is Salt Lake City, Trax and FrontRunner.

RE: Sad abuse of power | 11:44 a.m. May 6, 2009

Of course your house could be condemned if it stood in the way of a public transportation project. I know several people who have had thier houses condemned that lived along roads that were widened. They were also reimbursed very well by the state and cities involved, especially the ones who refused the initial offers and remained holed out until the last possible moment.

Bob | 12:24 p.m. May 6, 2009

Sad abuse of power said, "I wish the article would provide evidence of whether or not the land was actually "condemnable."

Well, I'm sure that the seven members of the city council did not rely on the "evidence" in this article to render their decision.

Truth | 2:04 p.m. May 6, 2009

What is not mentioned in the artical is that only the park strip is being taken. The business will still be operating and UTA will pay for the grass and trees taken. Not allowing left hand turns does make it inconvient but going to the light and making a u-turn will be ok.

Marc | 8:09 p.m. May 30, 2009

Businesses always complain when they loose there left turn access when improvements come, but they forget how much more exposure they will have because of the new capacity the improvements bring.

Reduce left turns across TRAX | 1:06 a.m. June 10, 2009

Left turns across the TRAX Line into a particular business are problematic. For example, the left turns permitted into the Little Americal and Grand America from Main Street. If you sit at that intersection for a day, you will see impatient drivers running their red turn arrows, cars making illegal turns from the hotels across the tracks onto Main Street and cars illegally going straight across the tracks from one hotel to the other.

I've seen lots of close calls there - usually it is the TRAX operator who avoids the collision by braking and sounding the horn as the clueless motorists cuts off the train. Those big white things on the rail are pretty hard to see, after all.

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