Steve Greene has been in charge of the entire university line light-rail project from day one. On Friday, the manager of engineering and construction for the Utah Transit Authority finally experienced the finished product.
Greene rode the line on one of the test drives UTA has been running for about a week to make sure everything is set for the Dec. 15 grand opening.
That ride, Greene said, met all of his expectations.
"I'm very happy with (the line)," he said. "It's pretty exciting to have us 15 days away."
Paul O'Brien, director of rail operations for UTA, said there are just a few things to do before opening: finish training operators, finalize the timing on some of the traffic signals and finish work on the individual stations.
"We'll be ready to carry people on the 15th," he said. "We're right where we wanted to be at this time."
Greene said the biggest challenge in completing the project has been its schedule.
"I don't believe it's been done anywhere in the nation," he said, referring to a project of this magnitude being completed in the three-year time frame.
The project has evolved quite a bit, Greene said. The original plan was to take the line from the University of Utah Health Sciences Center to the airport — an 11-mile route. That project would have cost about $480 million.
But federal funding didn't come, so UTA broke the project into phases. The university line was deemed the most important phase. Total cost for its 2.3 miles came to $118.5 million. The second phase is to extend the line from Rice-Eccles Stadium to the hospital.
Train operator Mike Rigdon has had the opportunity to drive the university line as well as the north/south line. He said the north/south line is more scenic, and some areas have speeds up to 65 miles per hour.
Drivers on the university line will experience different problems and need to pay attention to different details than those on the north/south line, he said. He said there are more automobiles and pedestrians unfamiliar with TRAX to watch for and the "S" curve east of 900 East is a steep climb to maneuver.
O'Brien said the largest concern on this new line is for automobile drivers and gives motorists these safety guidelines:
Only turn left on a green arrow
Don't turn left if there is a no left turn sign
Pay careful attention at 1100 and 1300 East, where automobiles share a turn lane with TRAX.
E-mail: lculler@desnews.com