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Show 12 THE GREEN SHEET Thursday, March 31, 1988 Areas Transportation System Will Require Significant Upgradin V tour alternative nignway plans were evaluated. The existing system, along with the of the interstate completion system in the area, was also evaluated. One alternative was based on the current 1995 Long Range Plan and included upgrading and of arterial street expansion system and improvements to from 12300 South to 600 North with the addition of one lane in by Ralph H. Goff Green Sheet Staff Writer SALT LAKE. The west side of the Salt Lake Valley has been -and is projected to continue to'be - a rapidly growing urban area. -- From 1970 to 1985, population throughout the valley grew by 51 percent, and employment grew even faster by almost 64 percent. This rapid growth has led tc traffic congestion on many of the areas major streets. In order to support the growth in the area and reduce congestion, the transportation system here will need to be "significantly upgraded over the next 20 years," the Wasatch Front Regional Council has concluded. The WFRC - composed of 16 elected officials from Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Morgan and Tooele counties - is responsible for transportation in the Salt Lake area. A Transportation Coordinatbeen has Committee ing established within WFRC tapping the expertise not only of officials of the five counties, but also of of the major representatives transportation agencies in the the Utah Dept, of area Transportation (UDOT) and the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). In an advisory addition, committee composed of engineers and planners from each of the jurisdictions in Salt Lake and south Davis counties as well as from UDOT and UTA has had input into WFRCs "Long Range Transportation Plan for the Salt Lake Area for the Year 2005." to an executive According of that study, the summary of growth and distribution population and employment "will have a great impact on the transportation needs for the year 2005. Employment in the county is expected to grow at a rate "significantly higher than the and in population growth dwelling units," with an 81 percent increase in employment projected for the area. Salt Lake City is expected to reap the benefits of this increase in employment, while areas outside of Salt Lake City are projected to see the major growth in housing and population. Almost all the population growth will occur on the west side' and in the southeast section of West and 700 EastVan Winkle Expressway2000 East corridors, intended to serve the travel needs for the east and west sides of the valley. A third alternative included additional improvements on by adding a second new lane in each direction. Finally, the fourth alternative combined the improvements to the 5600 West and 700 EastVan Winkle Expressway2000 East corridors with the expansion of by two lanes in either direction. Three transit service alternatives were also developed for evaluation. All three provided for expanded coverage of transit service to the developing areas of the region. The first alternative included expanding regular bus service and additional express bus routes to the Salt Lake downtown area and the University of Utah. The second alternative used a transit center concept, with regular local bus service meeting at several transit centers around the valley and with express bus service being provided between long-rang- e -- -- - north-sout- h construction costs, the recommended transit improvements will require more than $53 milliort per year for operating expenses by the year 2005, the report says. Additional revenues will be needed to make up these costs as well. Elected officials at both the state and local levels will need to decide on the appropriate means of generating the additional revenues if the plan is to be put each direction. A second alternative called for into implemented. The Wasatch Front Regional major improvements in the 5600 Road. The expanded bus system Council will continue to monitor would provide coverage to the the development taking place in growing population areas in the the valley and the progress in western and southwestern implementing the recommendations of its plan. Each portions of the county. will be the recommendations "The future year transportation needs of the corridor area are reviewed, and when necessary more conducive to light rail than changes will be made. Public meetings are currently to expanded express bus service," under held various the executive summary concludes, being "since light rail has higher sponsorships to explain the ridership capacity, operates at recommendations and it is higher average speeds, and is less anticipated that within five to 10 affected by problems due to the years a major update of the long on streets or range plan will need to be made congestions to keep it current with changing inclement weather." development patterns, economic conditions and environmental Implementing The Plan CLOGGED . . . Traffic la a growing problem throughout the valley. Commutere will be seeking these centers. In the third alternative, a light rail transit system is envisioned Street along the corridor from 10600 South to downtown Salt Lake, supplemented by regular and express bus service in the rest of the area. Evaluating Alternatives however. The three transit alternatives were also evaluated, based on a number of factors including ridership, cost, coverage area and the percent of work trips using transit. to the study, "the expanded buslight rail transit system is projected to have the highest ridership, as well as the highest annual costs due to the large capital investment that will be required." According Recommendations the traffic After reviewing projections and considering the cost estimates and other impacts a for each alternative, recommended 2005 Long Range Transportation Plan for the Salt Lake Area was developed. Those recommendations include an arterial street system which will served the developed area, including the extension of the West Valley Highway and 5600 West to 12600 and 10200 South respectively. arterials In addition, are recommended in several areas. Along with these new facilities, existing streets in the developed areas are recommended to be upgraded to arterial street standards. east-we- st AUJfwiUtA- - ;vmu t) last one there's a rotten egg Street corridor The study, while still incomplete, will apparently call for at least one additional lane in each direction south of 7200 South and north of the interchange, and possibly two additional lanes in each direction between 7200 South and The plan calls for improvements to 5600 West and 700 EastVan Winkle2000 East corridors to to them "major upgrade Improvements expressways." intersection include could widening, signal coordination and the construction of interchanges at major cross streets. Improvements to provide for travel across the better valley are also being recommended, with a combination of expanded bus service and a light rail transit system to be implemented to supplement the highway improvements. The light rail portion of the system would serve the higher and employment population corridor, primarily density between 700 East and Redwood Salt Lake County, the executive summary concludes, but "Salt Lake City will still be the major employment center." This growth will increase the and need for both north-souttravel in the valley. In addition, the transportation system will need to serve those centers employment growing which are developing in suburban 51-8- 0 i 0. east-we- All concerns. to be The plan also calls for in South 12300 from upgraded Draper to US-8- 9 in Davis County. 1 of Each the highway alternatives was evaluated for improvements in traffic flow, costs and other impacts. The second and fourth alternatives were found to perform the best from a traffic point of view, emphasizing the need to make improvements on the west side as well as along However, each of the four could alternatives potentially result in significant costs, although the costs of the three latter alternatives are much greater than the cost of the first. The three latter plans would provide greater traffic benefits, alternatives to H5 as we enter the 21st Century. of the alternatives will be costly. st east-we- areas. Plan Development In November 1985, a technical memorandum documenting the "Needs Assessment for the Salt Area Lake Long Range Plan" was Transportation completed. This analysis com2005 traffic pared projected volumes to the existing capacity of the transportation system here. Along with accident rate data and discussions with planners and engineers from all the local jurisdictions, these comparisons were used to develop a priority listing of the transportation needs for the year 2005. In general, they are: Complete the arterial street system in the developed areas of the region; - Improve north-sout- h travel on and on the east and west sides of the valley; - Provide increased capacity between Salt Lake and Davis Counties; - Provide for travel south of 5400 South; and - Serve University of Utah and Research Park traffic. While all five areas will have an effect on the transportation needs of west side residents, several of these five areas will have a direct impact. In order to meet the needs in -- -- east-we- -- st -- An investment of nearly $2 billion needed will be to implement the redcommended the highway improvements, executive summary explains. Projections of revenues from current funding sources were made and compared with the estimated costs of the Long Range Plan. For local projects, available revenues will come from the five-cen- contributions. UDOT will also receive funds from the five-ceper gallon tax increase and from Federal-Ai- d Urban, Federal-Ai- d Interstate, Remember . . . NOTHING w PRICED OVER Toys Gifts Housewares School and Tools Cosmetics Office Supplies While supplies last . WEST POINT SHOPPING CENTER 3861 W. 5400 S. Kearns 966-886- 6 Opn Mon. Sat. , 10 a in. 9 p.m. Sunday 13 Noon ...pm. 6' SLATS 2x4-- 8' RAILS 1x4-- and Federal-AiPrimary funds and developer contributions. d 4x4x8' than $650 However, more million in additional revenues will be needed over and above these sources to complete the recommended improvements. "These additional revenues will need to come from increases in existing sources and from new sources of funds," the executive summary concludes. Several sources of potential additional revenue were studied, including an increase in the statewide gasoline tax, a local and option gasoline ' tax transportation impact fees for new development. In addition to the primary 1 1... 69' 2... 95' CEDAR. $4 4x4-- 8' 2 $2" POST MIX $1M CUSTOM CUTTING I SHOP WORK him Ulllil IT dJifat 4 BUILDERS MARI )JJS Wan 1500 South n G ranger 1 st SLCC Continued from page 9 student clubs and organizations become important at Salt Lake community College. VIC A (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) has a large membership. School wide, state and national completion involve a lot of students. SLCC VICA members have a tradition of winning: every year one or more students are declared best in the nation in their respective skill contests. The same is true, also, with Twenty-eigh- t DEX (Delta Epsilon Chi, college arm of Distributive Clubs of America). Students in Marketing do exceptionally well against their and peers in both state nationwide competition. The college Job Expo has improved each year during the past seven annual expositions held during Winter quarter at the college. More than 60 companies and agencies are pleased to participate, and nearly 3,000 students went through the exhibits this year. modern miraculous through laser disks, sophisticated computerware containing (for example) an entire encyclopedia on a single compact disc, and other advanced means of disseminating technical informausing AND SUPPLIES SALE ts h Although SLCCs library in the Technology Building is small by some standards it has about 30,000 books - it is expanding by EASTER NEEDS FENCE increase in the recently passed per gallon gasoline tax Urban increase, from Federal-Ai- d and from funds, developer SALT T 3 l AKFr COMMUNITY COLLEGE Fully accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. A college dedicated to teaching people to be successful. Highly qualified professors with professional teaching credentials. An enviable 23:1 studentfaculty ratio means highly personalized attention. technology tion. An open computer lab has been created this year to assist of students use neeaing computers to complete assignments. A special student fee allowed for purchase of some of these computers. Progress? . . .theres plenty Lake Salt at happening Community College. Come visit the Redwood Road campus when next youre in the area. Bryan Gardner A large School of Continuing and Community Education to help you keep abreast of your field of work, or make career changes leading to a better job and quality of life. ed SLCC is a hometown college interested in the quality of life and economic wellbeing of the people living in our community. Campuses: Redwood Road Campus P.O. Box 30808 4600 S. Redwood Road Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-080- 8 1 (801) 967-411- Riverside Campus (Skills Center) 1040 W. 700 South Salt Lake City, Utah 84104 0 (801) 328-550- Credits transfer to and universities. four-ye- ar colleges Library "Hep em to SIX STAR for all your CEDAR Technicalvocational programs quickly lead to good jobs. 28 social, service, and professional clubs provide a rich social envronment. Sandy Campus 9560 S. 7th East (Union Square) Sandy, Utah 84070 7 (801) 571-371- International Airport Campus 551 N. 2200 West Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 AA, AS, and AAS degrees. 10,355 students (fall quarter 87) in 61 Classes Begin college programs. Bruin basketball teams (both mens' and womens) are rated nationally and provide excitement at games. heart-stoppi- Summer Quarter 88 Fall Quarter 88 Winter Quarter '89 . Spring Quarter '89 June 20, September 26, January 3, March 27, 1988 1988 1989 1989 ng SLCC Continuing Education 967-420- 1 Salt Lake Community College nuioii |