Utah Transit Authority officials hope a new strategy will help them win federal approval to build a light rail extension to Rice-Eccles Stadium prior to the 2002 Winter Games.
UTA now wants federal officials to include the 2.5-mile line as a component of the 15-mile, north-south TRAX project that is completed and ready to open Dec. 4.Adding the eastern leg to its existing funding agreement for TRAX could cut through some of the red tape and make it a more palatable consideration for the Federal Transit Administration. That is the hope, at least.
UTA is seeking a full-funding grant agreement from FTA that would commit the Clinton Administration to funding 80 percent of the $105 million cost to construct the University TRAX spur.
Until recently, UTA has pursued a separate funding agreement for the University TRAX line. But if that process follows the normal course, UTA likely would not receive an answer from FTA until next June. By then, UTA would have no hope of building the line in time for the Games.
UTA General Manager John Inglish said his agency needs to know if it has a full-funding grant agreement for University TRAX -- either a separate agreement or inclusion in the existing one -- by the end of this year to make the Olympic deadline.
Inglish said feedback from the FTA has been positive and that the University TRAX extension is viewed as a valid project that serves a need regardless of the Olympics.
UTA had hoped to build a 10.9-mile, west-east extension from Salt Lake City International Airport to the University of Utah but was unable to secure congressional support for the entire line. As it was, Utah's congressional delegation had to fight to keep any portion of the project alive after House appropriators attempted to ban the west-east line from receiving any federal money.
The University TRAX extension would carry spectators to and from the Winter Games' opening and closing ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium and provide a commuting alternative for many University of Utah students and employees.
Inglish said his staff has wished, in retrospect, that it had included the 2.5-mile east extension in the original north-south TRAX project because it would serve the heavily traveled corridor along 400 South and 500 South between downtown Salt Lake and the university.
UTA's staff, meanwhile, is moving forward with plans to construct the University TRAX line using the accelerated, design-build method.
UTA Engineering Projects Manager Steve Greene told the UTA Board of Directors Wednesday that work is continuing on several fronts, including:
An agreement with Salt Lake City, detailing how construction will proceed and what financial involvement the city will have, should be ready for the board's approval next month. The agreement would not commit UTA to constructing University TRAX unless the federal funding agreement is obtained.
Three companies have responded to UTA's request for proposals to build the extension. The agency is checking to see if it can use available grant money to provide stipends for the three companies so their unique approaches to constructing the line could be purchased and used by the agency, even though only one of the companies would be chosen to build the line. The Utah Department of Transportation paid three contractors for their bid preparation work when selecting a contractor for the I-15 reconstruction project.
UTA plans to buy 10 new light-rail vehicles from Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc., the same company that manufactured the 23 cars that will serve north-south TRAX. Greene told the board he may ask for its approval on that purchase order in November or December, pending FTA funding approval.