Why did State lawmakers mandate a FrontRunner stop for Bluffdale? In some ways this sounds like the decision by UDOT to toss the Lehi City proposal for the Mountain View Corridor.
SB286, sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, exempts UTA from complying with city ordinances – as long as that city lies in a first-class county and the rail spans at least two counties. . . Killpack acknowledged his bill targeted Bluffdale.
I do see some glaring differences though. In the MVC case it was an acknowledged fact that there had to be a route through Lehi as part of the Mountain View Corridor project – the only real question was what was the best way to fill that need. I do not see that same basic agreement existing in the FrontRunner case.
As far as I know, Bluffdale was not blocking the rail route, only the stop. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be cheaper for UTA to build the line without the station – not moving the station elsewhere, just build one fewer stations on the line if Bluffdale does not want a commuter rail stop in their city. Does anyone know of a reason why they have to have that stop for FrontRunner?
This is, unfortunately, par for our legislature. They just can’t let cities do their own thing if it runs contrary to what a majority of them want.
Not to excuse our legislature, but they have a good example to follow from the federal government.
I don’t know why they “have to” to have the stop, other than it relieves traffic that crosses city and county limits. It affects UDOT as a whole, therefore it could be argued that they have some pull here.
Obviously the people of Herriman and Draper who would use that station would be affected, but it seems to me that the solution is for those people to convince the citizens and government of Bluffdale to change their minds or else live with the inconvenience rather than stomp on their neighbors through the state legislature.
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