Business owners worry about pending Sugar House streetcar route

Business owners worry about pending Sugar House streetcar route


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Council may vote on a controversial route for the proposed Sugar House streetcar on Tuesday, and opponents of the proposed route on 1100 East say they're preparing to hear bad news.

The need for more public transit in the Sugar House area is very real. UTA officials estimate people will make 23,000 trips through Sugar House every day by 2030.

But opposition to a streetcar along 1100 East has been strong. Hundreds of people attended the latest Salt Lake City Council meeting where the route was being discussed. People like Eliza James, the owner of Boxing Is For Girls gym on 1100 East just north of 2100 South, were especially vocal. She said she feels the street just isn't big enough to support a streetcar.

"I'm concerned about them making the correct decision," James said. "Yes. I feel that we need more time."

The council has three options: Put the streetcar route extension on 1100 East, put it on 2100 South, or delay a decision until later. James has been in constant contact with members of the city council to get them to reconsider the 1100 East route.


We've been talking to them and they've been participating and acting like they care about our participation and our input, so we're going to see on Tuesday how much of that energy is put into use.

–Eliza James, the owner Boxing Is For Girls gym


"We've been talking to them and they've been participating and acting like they care about our participation and our input, so we're going to see on Tuesday how much of that energy is put into use," James said.

For some business owners, it's hard to know what the council will decide. James said she has heard the council is split pretty evenly, with one council member still undecided. But Awakening Heart owner Pat Newhouse believes the council will vote in favor of the 1100 East route, despite fierce opposition.

She said council members have done a lot of discussing and planning from their offices, but they haven't looked at it from the eyes of a business owner along the proposed route.

"Sit here in a store like mine and say, ‘Well, gee, I see why you're unhappy about it,' or, ‘I see why you're upset about it,' " Newhouse said.

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