While TRAX service through downtown Salt Lake City is interrupted over the next several weeks, the Utah Transit Authority is taking advantage by working on another segment of the line in need of an upgrade.
Crews are revamping the crossover between 100 South and 200 South — the segment of track train operators use to switch TRAX vehicles from the northbound side to the southbound side, and vice versa.
UTA spokesman Kris McBride said the upgrade from a manual crossover to an electric switch is required for the 2002 Winter Games, when TRAX traffic will be halted at the City Center Station between 100 South and South Temple. Olympic organizers have decided against allowing TRAX into the security zone west of Main.
The $600,000 cost of improving the switch is being paid for by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee through a federal grant.
UTA currently uses an electric switch on South Temple to make more than 250 TRAX crossovers each day. The manual switch on Main Street north of 200 South typically is used only once a month, but it will be used even more than the South Temple switch in February when the end of the line is moved east.
During the Winter Games, a total of 62 light rail vehicles will transport passengers to and from the downtown area. UTA is borrowing 29 light rail cars from the transit agency in Dallas to supplement its fleet of 23 cars and the 10 additional cars for the University TRAX extension. The new cars for the university line will begin arriving from a Sacramento assembly plant next week.
The Utah Department of Transportation will decide in August whether UTA has made enough progress on the University TRAX spur to continue toward a fall completion. If the contractor falls behind schedule, UDOT could order the new tracks on 400 and 500 South to be paved over temporarily while the Games take place.
But UTA spokesman Kris McBride said Monday the contractor, SLC Rail Constructors, has met all milestones on the project and is headed toward a November completion. He said UTA expects the university project to pass UDOT's review in August.
The temporary terminus at the City Center Station will be in place Feb. 2-24, according to UTA.
Even though the extension to the university likely will be open for the Games, it will not be used to transport spectators to and from the opening and closing ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium for security reasons. But TRAX will feed the downtown and university areas at all other times during the Games, providing alternative travel for both visitors and local residents.
TRAX currently is closed at the Courthouse Station at 500 South, and the segment between there and the Delta Center could remain closed through the month of July. SLC Rail Constructors is installing tracks connecting the main line with the 2.5-mile university spur.
E-MAIL: zman@desnews.com