FARMINGTON—Getting downtown from the south end of the county is a bit of a journey for people using public transit. For the last several years, UTA has been working on a project to make that easier.

“Since 2009 to2010 there has been discussion on what kind of connectivity would bring the most value from south Davis County into Salt Lake City,” said UTA Trustee Beth Holbrook. “FrontRunner is already in place which is great for places in the area but for residents on the east side of Bountiful it’s hard to utilize it. We also looked at where these people are going.”

In 2014 UTA completed the Davis-SLC Community Connector Study, she said. “The outcome was a Locally Preferred Alternative (LAP) consisting of a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line. It would originate at the Woods Cross FrontRunner station then go east on 500 South to Main Street in Bountiful then head along Main Street until it reached 2800 South onto Highway 89 in North Salt Lake. It would become a dedicated BRT lane that terminated on 400 West and North Temple.”

In subsequent dialogue with Salt Lake City, Davis County, North Salt Lake, Bountiful and Woods Cross they got involved with the process, said Holbrook. “The entities all worked together to get an environmental study done. In 2017 the legislature earmarked $1.2 million to do the environmental study. It didn’t get allocated until 2018 right when I came on board as a trustee.”

It went out to bid and through the public input phase, she said. “It really told us where people want to go and that included Farmington and the University of Utah.  That was outside the scope of the original LPA so we had to get the cities’ approval to redo the study.”

Farmington was super excited, Holbrook said. “Centerville said they didn’t want rail but we assured them it was never going to be rail.”

More design will need to be funded, she said. “It will tell us more about the layout, stops and routes. We know along Beck Street there will be a dedicated right of way bus lane but we should look for a connector piece in Bountiful/Woods Cross. It’s all a study, nothing has been finalized.”

The environmental study should be done in the summer, said Holbrook. “Then we can go back to the cities with a new LPA and all the data collected up to that point. Then the cities can officially take a position on the new LPA. It will probably include Farmington.”

The next phase if the cities support the LPA is funding, she said. “Then we have to submit it to the FTA (Federal Transit Administration) and let them know we’re supportive of the project and intend to pursue funding.”

Holbrook said she’d like to see synergy with the cities to address and understand issues the cities have. “City leaders are all doing their best to represent their cities. We want to understand their needs in a positive way and do the best we can with the funding we have. Wherever people go we know transit is a piece of that.”

She said they know Davis County is constrained, especially in Farmington, Bountiful and North Salt Lake. “Woods Cross is supportive and understands the dynamics. The strategy is a BRT to FrontRunner with the connectivity piece to incorporate as well.”