Thanks for letting me speak on behalf of the Rio Grande Plan! As we continue to move forward we need more people speaking up about wanting this project. If we want this built for the Olympics we need to push our elected officials now. As I said in this presentation we need the State of Utah to conduct an economic impact analysis so we can get the other half of the equation rather than just the high cost. Make sure you write the members of this committee. I spent the last four days hand writing letters to them.
Ugh people can be so short sighted… Transit/economics across the state needs a ‘heart’ to flourish. If this was a freeway project Im sure people wouldn’t be as worried about the cost. We really need to push the economic benefits every time the cost is brought up…
All the work the Rio Grande Plan team has been doing has been astounding, a huge thanks for them and I'll be writing my state reps to encourage it to be adopted.
i dont even live in salt lake valley, but i love watching the improvement uta has made in the last 25 years, and its awesome to see support like this trying to make it even better :)
I keep hearing the “Debbie-downers” saying “my people” don’t currently have transit. So listen to your people and BUILD that transportation access! Money is there if you sell the vacated land and get the UP and area support, plus Federal Infrastructure support! Everyone benefits from this!!
One of the key things to me about the RGP is that UTA already committed to eventual full grade separation of FrontRunner as part of Phase 4 of its future development plan. You have to bury or raise the tracks. Either you do it now when it’s $3-5bil and there’s piles of federal Reconnecting Communities money, or you can wait years as the federal money disappears and the cost goes up and up. The choice is obvious!
Living in St George, I would be proud of our State if it could see the great benefit and funding opportunities we have right now. This has the power to benefit Inland Port, SLC, tourists, the East West transportation, safety, and our image. I hope the state can be a catalyst in making it happen.
I find it interesting that they talk to much about the cost, but the cost is less or the same as a short segment of 1-15 from Centerville to downtown. The RGP actually opens up more developable land, as opposed to freeway expansion taking property. Adding capacity on Front Runner, once fully double tracked, is as easy as buying nee trains, as opposed to years of construction adding another lane on 15, to only result in induced demand. I hope they support a full economic study, as adding 75+acres of land is big and increasing ridership on FR as a whole could benefit station areas in other communities.
I know it’s obvious to supporters, but I’m not clear that it was obvious to the committee how much $$ would come back to the state thru redevelopment of the existing rail yard. Wish you guys hammered home the point of “this project will pay for itself several times over” especially since this committee seemed to be running scared about funding
@shsd4130 I agree, we could have made that more clear. Thankfully the conversations with the senators continued after the hearing was complete, and I think we got the message across.
SLC very much NEEDS this to give it the signature presence it needs/deserves. Also, it must have a rail link to Park City for the Olympics! SLC will be showcased to the world during the Olympics. We don’t want a triplewide to be the “welcome”!!!
We have to clear the State shenanigans first. We need OUR Senators/ House Reps to push this for the Olympics. Someone needs to send Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg a Gift Basket, to get US on board for funding.... WE NEED THIS UTAH!!!
@@seniorcajun Salt Lake City was awarded $2 million last year to perform a comprehensive study. That study is scheduled to begin very soon. Be on the lookout for periods of public comment!
What a Grande Plan. Go Chris!
You guys are tenacious. Very exciting to see this plan pick up steam!!
Thanks for letting me speak on behalf of the Rio Grande Plan! As we continue to move forward we need more people speaking up about wanting this project. If we want this built for the Olympics we need to push our elected officials now. As I said in this presentation we need the State of Utah to conduct an economic impact analysis so we can get the other half of the equation rather than just the high cost. Make sure you write the members of this committee. I spent the last four days hand writing letters to them.
Ugh people can be so short sighted… Transit/economics across the state needs a ‘heart’ to flourish. If this was a freeway project Im sure people wouldn’t be as worried about the cost. We really need to push the economic benefits every time the cost is brought up…
💯 and the woman overstating the cost was out of pocket 🙄
The Rio Grande Plan is gaining momentum!!!
Thanks for putting this out here to watch! Great work on the presentation, team.
All the work the Rio Grande Plan team has been doing has been astounding, a huge thanks for them and I'll be writing my state reps to encourage it to be adopted.
i dont even live in salt lake valley, but i love watching the improvement uta has made in the last 25 years, and its awesome to see support like this trying to make it even better :)
Love this plan. Sorely needed in SLC and the state as a whole. Would solve a lot of problems and help with future growth.
I keep hearing the “Debbie-downers” saying “my people” don’t currently have transit. So listen to your people and BUILD that transportation access! Money is there if you sell the vacated land and get the UP and area support, plus Federal Infrastructure support! Everyone benefits from this!!
@@RussSmith-xu6kd yeah it’s kinda a self fulfilling prophecy.
One of the key things to me about the RGP is that UTA already committed to eventual full grade separation of FrontRunner as part of Phase 4 of its future development plan. You have to bury or raise the tracks. Either you do it now when it’s $3-5bil and there’s piles of federal Reconnecting Communities money, or you can wait years as the federal money disappears and the cost goes up and up. The choice is obvious!
Make sure you write these elected officials and tell them that!
Living in St George, I would be proud of our State if it could see the great benefit and funding opportunities we have right now. This has the power to benefit Inland Port, SLC, tourists, the East West transportation, safety, and our image. I hope the state can be a catalyst in making it happen.
I find it interesting that they talk to much about the cost, but the cost is less or the same as a short segment of 1-15 from Centerville to downtown. The RGP actually opens up more developable land, as opposed to freeway expansion taking property. Adding capacity on Front Runner, once fully double tracked, is as easy as buying nee trains, as opposed to years of construction adding another lane on 15, to only result in induced demand. I hope they support a full economic study, as adding 75+acres of land is big and increasing ridership on FR as a whole could benefit station areas in other communities.
I hope we don't miss out on that federal funding
In order to not miss out we need to keep up the pressure on our elected officials
This 👆
I know it’s obvious to supporters, but I’m not clear that it was obvious to the committee how much $$ would come back to the state thru redevelopment of the existing rail yard. Wish you guys hammered home the point of “this project will pay for itself several times over” especially since this committee seemed to be running scared about funding
@shsd4130 I agree, we could have made that more clear. Thankfully the conversations with the senators continued after the hearing was complete, and I think we got the message across.
SLC very much NEEDS this to give it the signature presence it needs/deserves. Also, it must have a rail link to Park City for the Olympics! SLC will be showcased to the world during the Olympics. We don’t want a triplewide to be the “welcome”!!!
Oh yeah, Zephyr to SLC and then transfer to the Heber Creeper from SLC to Park City.
Do we know how much UTA has allocated for their POS SL Central upgrade?
They just put 3 million into finishing the design.
Do we have the federal funding ? I thought we already did have the federal money ?
We have to clear the State shenanigans first. We need OUR Senators/ House Reps to push this for the Olympics. Someone needs to send Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg a Gift Basket, to get US on board for funding.... WE NEED THIS UTAH!!!
@@seniorcajun Salt Lake City was awarded $2 million last year to perform a comprehensive study.
That study is scheduled to begin very soon. Be on the lookout for periods of public comment!
Joe Biden would love this
First
I feel like you should have talked about Futurism! But Idk if they ready for saltlake Space tours! THIS is how we get to the space port, RIO GRANDE
@@AMPProf You have a point. They may have been more interested if we had mentioned passenger drones and delivery bots!
Maybe “this could be the hub station the Olympic flying taxis” would have peaked their interest more. 😂