The Utah Transit Authority is looking down the line at the Trax system of the future. And communities are scrambling to get on board.
With the latest line completed, UTA is preparing its next move.
News Specialist Jed Boal has details.
Trax turned two last month, and opened the University Line, proof that the system is not in it's infancy any more.
In the past month, life along 4th South has been bustling with new Trax trains rolling from downtown and Sandy up to the University.
Seeing that success, cities on the west side of the valley are moving ahead with their plans.
Five cities are working on environmental studies of two potential corridors into the fastest growing section of the valley.
Midvale, West Valley, Taylorsville, South Jordan and West Jordan will work to develop the West Valley-Taylorsville Line and the Mid-Jordan line.
The estimated cost to build the lines? Two-hundred million dollars apiece.
There are a number of steps to complete, and the earliest construction could begin in 2007.
In adddition, there's a lot of competition for federal funding with other communities.
UTA will also try to get a constitutional amendment passed in the legislature so that it can sell TRAX.
UTA wants to sell Trax to a private company, and lease it back in order to cash in on about 30-million dollars in federal tax benefits.
As far as the next line we'll see, the extension of the University line up to the Medical Center is already in the design phase, and the airport line is waiting on funding.
Jan. 9, 2001
