UTA's plans for Salt Lake Central Station don't solve the east-west divide.
Small Lake City
By Benjamin Wood @BjaminWood
High-frequency bus lines can't be routed through freight rail crossings. If you've never ridden the bus (shade), that probably doesn't mean much to you. And if you categorically will never ride the bus, go ahead and skip this column and enjoy your next traffic jam. Remember, you're not in traffic, you are traffic.
For those of us who do rely on public transportation—and those who might one day be persuaded to try—it matters that freight rail prevents efficient and convenient routes. And it's an aspect of the Rio Grande Plan that hasn't gotten enough attention.
To briefly catch everyone up: Salt Lake City is divided in half by Interstate 15 and the Union Pacific (UP) railroad. Only a few east-west corridors traverse the freeway and fewer still are grade separated relative to the rails.
A group of citizen advocates have an idea to fix this: bury the railroad and restore the Rio Grande depot. Other cities have done it, with great success, but the proposal faces daunting challenges and a hefty upfront cost that most of Utah's suburban driving majority can't wrap their heads around.
UTA prefers to invest in its Salt Lake Central Station on 600 West, and last week released draft renderings of how that lackluster site might be improved. The plans are respectable, but absent from them is any attempt to close UP's surface crossings.
Which brings us back to bus service.
If you want people to ride transit (and we do), it's critical that routes be direct and frequent. It's no accident that two of the highest-ridership bus routes are the 200 and 217, which run 15-minute frequencies on mostly straight lines down State Street and Redwood Road, respectively.
My bus is the 9, a high-frequency route on 900 South. It's great, but if it went in a straight line, the connection to Trax in Central 9th would make it the fastest option for getting downtown, faster than driving, and even more people would ride it.
But the 9 can't take 900 South across the tracks, so instead it jogs south on 300 West over to the 1300 South overpass and meanders through Glendale before finally getting back to my home in Poplar Grove. For another example of this, check out the route for the 1, or notice how the 2 and the 17 don't bother going west at all.
The west side is developing and the city needs direct routes on 300 North, 200 South, 800 South, 900 South and 1700 South or, at minimum, the option of using those streets. Without a plan for grade separation, we're limited to squeezing everything onto 600 North, North Temple, 400 South, 1300 South and 2100 South.
The good news is that, one way or the other, Salt Lake's primary train station is going to be made more inviting and functional. But for a truly holistic solution to the city's transportation network, we need more than a pretty building on 600 West.
About The Author
Benjamin Wood
Lifelong Utahn Benjamin Wood has worn the mantle of City Weekly's news editor since 2021. He studied journalism at Utah State University and previously wrote for The Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret News and Entertainment Weekly
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