UTA's preferred route for new Trax Orange Line bypasses Salt Lake Central Station. 

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• Benjamin Wood
• A UTA "No Trespassing" sign guards a dormant stretch of railroad in the Ballpark Neighborhood where the Trax Red Line would run under a preferred service extension plan.

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is narrowing down its potential routes for new Trax light-rail lines in Salt Lake City, as staff on Wednesday presented members of the Board of Trustees with a recommended option ahead of in-depth environmental review.

Planners described a consensus forming around Alternative 3, which would reroute the Trax Red Line through the Granary District while adding a new Orange Line between the SLC International Airport and the University of Utah. Notably, this alternative would see the Orange Line bypass a connection with the Frontrunner regional train at Salt Lake Central and instead run a more direct route along 400 West, where it would join existing infrastructure at Planetarium Station and meet Frontrunner at the now-Green Line's North Temple Bridge/Guadalupe transfer location.

"What you want to do with good transit is you want to draw a straight line, as much as possible," said Alex Beim, UTA's long range and strategic planning manager. "If you plug in the connection to Salt Lake Central ... that's building in a fairly substantial deviation into the system."

Other proposals considered adding both of SLC's Frontrunner stations to the Orange Line, requiring a slower and more serpentine route through west downtown. Beim said that internal UTA operations staff as well as the general public—who submitted roughly 1,700 comments during outreach efforts—preferred a more direct line of travel and the lower costs associated with building and maintaining that route.

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• Utah Transit Authority
• A map of Locally Preferred Alternative 3, which includes a realignment of the Trax Red Line and a new Orange Line on 400 West.

Discarded options also included a stretch of elevated track—to avoid conflicts with vehicle traffic while crossing the 500 South and 600 South freeway ramps—and a realignment of the railway through the University of Utah, including relocation of the Trax station at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Beim said UTA will continue to study a connection to Salt Lake Central from the south, which could be used for storage of light-rail vehicles or be converted to a passenger route in the future.

"[The public] did not like the idea of multiple 90-degree turns and out-of-direction travel," Beim said. "Advancing option 3 does not prevent us from going to Salt Lake Central in the future if we determine it's needed."

Salt Lake Central is located directly adjacent to UTA's headquarters, and is a hub for several key bus routes. But it is also located in an economically depressed area of the city and is cut off from the west by Interstate 15, significantly undermining its potential as a flagship train station.

Both Salt Lake City and the transit agency intend to redevelop the area. But its seemingly insurmountable deficiencies have led to calls to abandon Salt Lake Central and either commit to North Temple Station as the primary intermodal hub or to restore passenger services at the historic Rio Grande Depot, a citizen-led proposal known as the Rio Grande Plan.

Mike Christensen, executive director of the Utah Rail Passengers Association, said the decision to move forward with a route that bypasses Salt Lake Central is harmonious with those efforts.

"Alternative 3 would fit best with the Rio Grande Plan," he said. "Additionally, it will be wonderful having increased service to the airport and to the University of Utah."

Members of the Board of Trustees asked staff for clarification on the decision to forego an Orange Line connection at Salt Lake Central, and noted that redevelopment of the area could bolster the need for services there. But they also praised the decision to include a non-passenger extension in the next phase of study and environmental review.

"Just keep our options open," Trustee Jeff Acerson said. "As long as we do that, I think we're in safe territory."

Board chairman Carlton Christensen noted that some version of the Orange Line/Red Line extensions have been contemplated for more than two decades. He joked that it would be nice to see the new routes come to fruition before he has "too much" grey hair.

"The tough part is none of it is funded at this point," Christensen said. "But this is where it starts."

Beim said that environmental review and preliminary engineering plans could take roughly two years to complete, followed by another two years for final designs and the acquisition of right-of-way, with construction and operational testing taking place between 2029 and 2032.

"Our goal, as I'm sure everyone is aware, is to have this operational prior to the [2034] Olympics' start," Beim said.