Residents of Salt Lake County's growing west side are $428 million closer to light rail in their neighborhoods after Federal Transit Authority officials presented a check for that amount to the Utah Transit Authority on Thursday.
Dozens of government and business leaders huddled together in the bitter morning cold to celebrate the completion of a quarter of the track and see Acting FTA Administrator Sherry Little, who flew in from Washington, D.C., make the funding announcement and sign the check.
The money for the Mid-Jordan extension of the TRAX light rail system is the latest installment in the "federal down payment to support Utah's visionary and ambitious effort to develop a world-class public transportation backbone by 2015," Little said. "This investment helps ensure that Utah, as the crossroads of the West, is well positioned to compete for new jobs, new businesses and a vibrant tourist trade."
The $428 million check will subsidize 80 percent of the Mid-Jordan line that will serve residents of Murray, West Jordan, South Jordan and Midvale with nine stations when completed in December 2011.
The remaining 20 percent of the line's cost is covered by a Salt Lake County referendum in 2006 that increased the sales tax a quarter of a cent per dollar.
When the Mid-Jordan line is complete, 28 light rail cars will hum along the 10.6-mile-long track between 6 a.m. and midnight. Trains will arrive at stations every 12 minutes during rush hours and every 15 minutes during off-peak hours.
The Mid-Jordan track, which is one of four major TRAX projects, will spur off of UTA's main north-south artery six blocks west of Fashion Place Mall and run through South Jordan's Daybreak development.
Much of the track will stretch along older Union Pacific rail lines that UTA bought to keep the route less burdensome to communities and as uncomplicated in construction as possible.
"Who ever thought you could buy a railroad from a railroad?" said UTA general manager John Inglish. "But here we are. It's exciting."
Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, one of TRAX's biggest and loudest proponents, also attended the federal funding event and recounted her 17-year battle to help secure state and federal funds for eventual light rail in the Wasatch Valley and, specifically, through her city.
"It's convenient for residents, saves the environment and is absolutely necessary for future generations," Seghini said.
E-mail: jhancock@desnews.com