The federal government was expected Tuesday to deliver a $30 million check to the Utah Transit Authority so it can break ground this spring on construction of a 15 1/2-mile light rail line from Salt Lake City to Sandy.
Gordon Linton, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, was to give the money to UTA Board President Jim Clark in a Tuesday afternoon ceremony at the Salt Lake City-County Building.The $30 million, which will fund the first phase of construction, is part of the federal government's pledge to pay for 80 percent of the light rail project. The rest is to come from existing UTA funding and reserves.
The federal government appropriated a total of $35 million for the light rail project for the 1997 fiscal year. UTA spokesman Bill Barnes said UTA will request the remaining $5 million when it is ready to spend the money. With the $30 million check, the federal government will have given UTA $76 million of the $241 million it has promised for the project.
"That's almost a third (of the anticipated amount), which is pretty good considering we haven't broken ground," Barnes said.
The light rail line, scheduled for completion by the year 2000, will run from 10000 South in Sandy to the Delta Center in downtown Salt Lake City.