A Wasatch Front Regional Council study suggests light-rail systems in Provo and southern Davis County could help meet travel demands expected in 2030.
The Inter-Regional Corridor Alternatives Analysis, still in the preliminary stages, also shows commuter rail could attract as many as 33,000 passengers per day between Provo and Ogden, higher than previous estimates.
Other future options for improving travel include widening I-15 between Brigham City and Payson, building the next leg of the Legacy Highway along 5600 West in the Salt Lake Valley and widening U.S. 89 in Davis County.
The study, under way for the past 18 months and scheduled for completion in June, is a cooperative effort between the regional council, the Mountainlands Association of Governments, the Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Transit Authority.
The goal is to project automotive travel volumes along the Wasatch Front in 2030 and devise strategies — including the construction and enhancement of road and transit networks — to help meet those travel needs.
The study group recently developed three alternative plans for handling future transportation volumes.
Ned Hacker, project coordinator for the corridor analysis, said elements of each of the alternatives could be part of the final recommendation, and he stressed that the suggested improvements are only preliminary. The alternatives now will be tested through computer modeling to see how they perform.
"These are just a set of alternatives we are going to look at, and there will be more to follow," Hacker said. "When we get to alternatives that are more refined, we will do a complete cost analysis of each."
Here are the major components of the three alternatives, presented this week to the regional council's Transportation Committee:
Alternative One — Commuter rail from Ogden to Provo; two additional lanes on I-15 between Ogden and Brigham City; widen U.S. 89 from four to six lanes between Salt Lake City and I-84; a Legacy Highway extension along 5600 West from Salt Lake City to Riverton; a new east-west road from Riverton to I-15 just north of American Fork; a widening of I-15 from six to eight lanes between Sandy and Provo.
Alternative Two — Commuter rail from Ogden to Provo; light rail from American Fork to south of Provo; light rail from Salt Lake City to Centerville; two additional general-purpose lanes on I-15 in parts of Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties.
Alternative Three — Commuter rail from Ogden to Provo; light rail from American Fork to south of Provo; light rail from Salt Lake City to Centerville; high-occupancy vehicle lanes from Salt Lake City to Brigham City and Sandy to Spanish Fork; two additional general-purpose lanes on I-15 in parts of Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties.
Each of the alternatives assumes UTA's TRAX light rail system will be extended east to the University of Utah Medical Center and west to Salt Lake City International Airport.
None of the alternatives includes suburban extensions of UTA's TRAX light rail system to West Valley City, West Jordan or Draper. But that's because planners wanted to model the success of commuter rail and other improvements on their own, without the statistical influence of TRAX spurs.
"We've got to look at what commuter rail does to the total transportation system," said regional council executive director Will Jefferies.
The regional council is not backing away from its support of those TRAX spurs, added Doug Hattery, a transit planner for the regional council.
"They're part of our long-range plan. We're not going to take them out," he said. Hacker said the proposed extension of light rail from Salt Lake City to Centerville was originally extended to Farmington, but planners changed their minds after additional analysis.
None of the alternatives includes extending commuter rail north to Brigham City or south to Payson. The need for that service is not expected to be in demand until after 2030.
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