Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Transit Authority's proposed large-scale route changes are receiving some last-minute tweaks before they will be implemented in August.
However, some backlash from residents in Salt Lake City's Avenues neighborhood won't stop plans for a new 15-minute service in the area, said Eric Callison, the agency's manager of service planning. The agency is still reviewing alternate service proposals made by residents in opposition to the plan before the entire plan is finalized.
"We are currently looking into those. We hope to have an official response back to the community soon," he said, adding that he's not sure what, if any modifications would be in the Avenues. "We may ultimately decide that it's not possible to (accept) any of the proposals at this time."
Callison and Megan Waters, UTA's manager of community engagement, presented UTA's board of trustees with an update on the drastic August route changes during an agency board meeting. The agency regularly adjusts its routes, especially at the beginning and end of the ski season and the start of school in August.
The entire plan for this August calls for ending 22 bus routes and merging some into the remaining routes, like ending Route 41 in West Valley City because Route 47 will absorb it. The major changes are primarily the result of labor shortages across the UTA system.
Meanwhile, the UTA on Demand service is set to replace bus service in Tooele County, and the on-demand service will expand into southern parts of Davis County, too. The service map runs from Centerville to North Salt Lake in the county.
The original plan was released in March, but Callison said that adjustments have since been made. Most of the changes are small, such as the location of bus stops and adjustments to routes based on over 300 public comments it received earlier this year.
If any changes are made in the plan for the Avenues, it's likely to be similar. Agency officials argue that any drastic changes would reduce the speed at which Avenues riders can reach other parts of Salt Lake County or even southern Davis County.
"For example, if the bus stayed on 6th Avenue, we would still be dealing with the same, pretty steep topography on that street, so there wouldn't really be any benefit for passengers with disabilities or anyone who is trying to wait for a bus there. So, we have to weigh those concerns," Callison said.
The other issue they've run into is not everyone in the Avenues is opposed to the idea of frequent service in the neighborhood. UTA received quite a few comments in support of the plan during a Greater Avenues Community Council meeting last week; it also received plenty of negative comments. This is partially why it's taking longer to decide on final alterations to the plan.
The goal is to still finalize the August change day plan in the coming weeks so that UTA can inform riders well in advance of adjustments coming on Aug. 7.
The experience in the Avenues may have also altered the community input process. Callison believes one of the main issues is that Avenues residents weren't aware because the neighborhood wasn't involved in many recent UTA route changes, so people living in the area either ignored signs about it or weren't actively looking at the proposal when it was announced in March.
Waters told the board of trustees that her team would review the input process just to ensure they are reaching everyone before changes are made.
But UTA doesn't only accept public comments for change day; the agency also stores feedback to help plan out future projects and service changes. One example of this is a new five-year plan that is going to be modified this year, Callison said. The document is sort of a miniature master plan that guides future change day ideas. There are also long-range service plans that go beyond five years in the future.
Simply put, service in the Avenues — or anywhere within the 80 municipalities the agency works in — can be altered at any time in the future, often using feedback from riders and residents.
"(There) are opportunities to influence the transit system for years in the future," Callison said. "If someone says, 'We need a new train line,' we can't do that by change day. That's something that needs to happen over a longer span of time. So, we want to enhance the change day process any way we can, but we also want people to understand that they can actually go even further than that."
What's the deal with UTA's new stations?
UTA's last change day came on April 17, which is when two new rail stations were added to the agency's transit schedules. The 600 South TRAX station in downtown Salt Lake City and the Vineyard FrontRunner Station in Utah County are on transit schedules but they still aren't operational.
So, what's the holdup?
Both are plagued by completely different issues, UTA board of trustees chairman Carlton Christensen told KSL.com on Tuesday.
In the case of the new TRAX station, shortages of key parts are why the project has been delayed. The cement platforms are there, but it lacks the electronic information that the other stations have.
"We think we're through the final supply chain issue for that facility," he said, adding that he believes it should be ready either by the end of this month or sometime in July.
As for the Vineyard Station, Christensen said UTA is working with the Utah Department of Transportation and Vineyard leaders to sort out traffic control issues related to a road leading into the new FrontRunner station. He's optimistic that it will be sorted out before the August change day.
