OGDEN -- The Utah Transit Authority's stakeholder committee looking at the future of streetcars in Ogden's mass transit mix settled on a corridor that runs up 36th Street this week, with 30th Street as a possible alternative.
The decision on Wednesday drew immediate condemnation from people who want the line to go up 25th Street.
Shalae Larsen heads the Trolley District, a group of central Ogden residents who see trolleys as critical to reviving the city's residential and business core. She said Thursday the decision was seriously wrongheaded.
"We at the Trolley District are seriously disappointed in UTA's continued disregard for the public that it is appointed to serve," she said in a statement sent to members of the Trolley District on Thursday. "Even after meeting with our group and agreeing to a compromise of taking both the 36th street and the 25th street alignments into the next phase of project development, UTA in bad faith did not see this commitment through. This outcome is just another example in a recent string of corruption and poor decision making on the part of a bureaucracy that is clearly out of control!"
Mayor Matthew Godfrey, however, said the data the committee looked at to make its decision may portend the death of the whole idea, no matter which route it takes.
"As was stated in the meeting, all the stakeholders' first choice was 25th street," he said. "Every single member thought that was the best route. The problem was in practicality."
Godfrey said the 36th Street corridor was picked because it is the cheapest and most feasible from a technical and environmental standpoint.
But even at that, he said, the route has "daunting" cost problems, a projected $160 million to build, plus $3.5 million annual operating costs.
Even with federal matches, Godfrey said he just couldn't see Weber County residents able to afford that much.
"It's pretty hard to imagine at this point," he said Thursday.
UTA has been working for several years on a proposal to add street cars to Ogden's mass transit system. The current proposal is to build a line from Ogden's Intermodal Hub at 23rd Street and Wall Avenue up to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital.
The problem is which route to get there.
The stakeholder committee has representatives from Weber County, Ogden, Weber State University, McKay-Dee Hospital and others who would be affected by which route is chosen.
Gerry Carpenter, a spokesman for UTA, said one of the considerations is the possibility of commercial development. Washington Boulevard is already zoned for that, he said, while the 25th Street route and sections of Harrison Boulevard would require rezoning.
"There are also concerns about impacts to adjacent properties," he said. "Harrison would need to be widened considerably." He said that would take out a number of historic properties "which would make it less eligible for federal funding."
Larsen, however, said UTA is making a lot of assumptions about the future of Harrison Boulevard that are not valid. She said 25th Street should not be excluded until an environmental assessment has been made.
"The frustration is we're engaged in a planning process," she said. "This is the opportunity to look at a corridor like Harrison Boulevard and say not what is the future of this road, but what is the future of this community?"
She said if nothing changes, UDOT already says it may need to expand Harrison Boulevard, adding lanes and taking out buildings.
The idea behind mass transit is to make roads less crowded, she said. "Mark my words. If we don't do something, in 10 years UDOT will be knocking at our doors saying, 'Sorry, eminent domain, health, safety and welfare, we have to do this.'"
Godfrey said the cost of using even the so-called "cheaper" route up 36th Street would be prohibitive.
"That was the daunting part of it. The price tag is $160 million and this is the least expensive route," he said.
On top of that is $3.5 million a year operating costs, he said, "so this project has just grown way beyond what everybody's expectations were to begin with."
He said the original corridor study called for $100 million to build, $2.5 million operating costs, and a 13.9 minute travel time. Along with the new higher projected costs, he said, the travel time has gone to 21 minutes.
"So it's far slower, way more expensive both to build it and operate it, and I just don't know," he said.
The decision is not final. Carpenter said the stakeholder committee acts as a steering committee for UTA. A public hearing will be scheduled, probably in August or September, to present the findings and data and take public input.
"It is never final until you have tracks in the street," he said. "It's never a dead deal. Certainly the public has the opportunity to review this proposal and comment on it and like any project, public support and feedback is very important."
But, he said, the stakeholders group "is very valuable because it gives us direction to move forward."
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