History
Light rail in the Salt Lake Valley was first seriously discussed in the late 1980s to provide an alternative to traffic congestion on I-15, but the idea was met with much criticism. On 10 October 1988, Congress approved $5 million in funds to preserve land along the proposed light rail corridor. Funding for the light rail line itself, however, remained uncertain. After Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, UTA used the city's host status to accelerate obtaining funding through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Construction began in 1997. Protesters at the groundbreaking insisted that light rail would be both dangerous and a waste of money. Public opinion remained divided and businesses on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City suffered during the construction period.
After the north-south line opened in late 1999 with sixteen stations, ridership expectations were quickly met. The system was enthusiastically embraced by valley residents, to the surprise of many, and once-skeptical communities soon began clamoring for extensions.
Funding for the University Line to Rice-Eccles Stadium allowed it to be completed in 2001 with four new stations, ahead of schedule and the Olympics. An extension to the University Medical Center that added three new stations was completed on 29 September 2003, fifteen months ahead of schedule. An infill station at 900 South in Salt Lake City was constructed in 2005, and a second infill station, at 9400 South in Sandy ("Sandy Expo"), opened in August 2006. On 13 December 2006, the UTA Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the Delta Center Station to "Arena" in response to the renaming of the nearby indoor arena to EnergySolutions Arena.
On 23 February 2006, plans for extending the main line westward to the current Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub near the Gateway District were approved. Two stations were built near the Gateway shopping district, as well as one at the Salt Lake Central Station (Intermodal Hub). They opened in April 2008, bringing the total number of stations to 28.
Read more about this topic: TRAX (light Rail)
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