Granite School District on two different occasions has expressed concern to Mayor Peter Corroon about 3900 South being indicated as the new EW corridor. (This letter is attached). The Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) of which Corroon is a member (one of 25 members), recommends enhanced bus service above Highland Drive to Wasatch Blvd (attachment, see Phase II). Phase I, a corridor on the west side, 3500 So., is already completed.
Superintendent Bates of Granite School District has expressed concern that this regional travel plan (RTP) would jeopardize student safety since there are four schools where children cross 3900 So to attend them, Olympus HS, Wasatch Jr. HS, Skyline HS and Upland Terrace (actually, there are 9 schools either on 3900 So or within a block of 3900 So. from Highland Drive to Wasatch Blvd.). The school community councils have been charged with insuring "Safe Routes" for students. Martin Bates suggests that perhaps 3300 South which already is a wider street with fewer schools, higher density and more commercial properties would be better suited for the EW corridor. He writes in a letter to Mayor Corroon on Feb. 11, 2011:
Mayor Peter Corroon,
. . .
Substantively, it continues to appear that as 3300 So is considerably more commercial than 3900 So it may therefore in the interest of child pedestrian safety, be the more appropriate corridor for bus rapid transit and enhanced bus lines.
Martin Bates, J.D. Ph.D, Superintendent.
Ignoring Granite School District's concerns, the latest WFRC plan still shows this enhanced bus service above Highland Drive with pull out lanes for buses at lights and congested areas so that bus drivers can control the lights with a clicker and jump ahead of traffic. This is called "queue jumping" in the WFRC literature. This would necessitate widening the road to accommodate these pull out lanes.
With this overlay of bus service on a street that already has bus service, there would need to be more ridership than we currently have, which is currently very low in our area. As Max Johnson, Senior Planner, said in a SL County meeting in 2009, the purpose of a corridor is to increase housing density and commercial development in order to increase the potential number of people who would ride the bus.
Wasatch Front Regional Council has recently released their most recent update .They have encouraged public response to this proposal over the next few weeks (see announcement at end of this emailI am grateful for this response time and would encourage you to voice your opinion to the WFRC. Prasad Trilokaker, the community council chair of Upland Terrace Elementary, has allowed me to use a letter he sent last Friday to Jani Iwamoto of the County Council which states his views in a concise, well-informed manner. (I would only add that students also cross 3900 So to attend Olympus HS. --one-third of EMC area attends Olympus HS).
With this overlay of bus service on a street that already has bus service, there would need to be more ridership than we currently have, which is currently very low in our area. As Max Johnson, Senior Planner, said in a SL County meeting in 2009, the purpose of a corridor is to increase housing density and commercial development in order to increase the potential number of people who would ride the bus.
Wasatch Front Regional Council has recently released their most recent update .They have encouraged public response to this proposal over the next few weeks (see announcement at end of this emailI am grateful for this response time and would encourage you to voice your opinion to the WFRC. Prasad Trilokaker, the community council chair of Upland Terrace Elementary, has allowed me to use a letter he sent last Friday to Jani Iwamoto of the County Council which states his views in a concise, well-informed manner. (I would only add that students also cross 3900 So to attend Olympus HS. --one-third of EMC area attends Olympus HS).
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 11:31:26 -0700
Subject: Re: 3900 south
From: ntrilokekar@gmail.com
To: j.iwamoto@att.net
Hello Ms. Iwamoto,
. . .
Subject: Re: 3900 south
From: ntrilokekar@gmail.com
To: j.iwamoto@att.net
Hello Ms. Iwamoto,
. . .
It's not quite clear to me why this plan involves diverting the bus from 3300 South to 3900 South from 700 East onwards. I would think that continuing on 3300 South all the way until Wasatch Boulevard, and then to the 3900 South parking lot would be better for this new Express Bus route, because that would involve minimum number of turns and make the Express Bus go truly faster. 3900 South has three school crossings, for Skyline High School, Wasatch Junior High, and Upland Terrace Elementary, in addition to being a primarily residential neighborhood north of about 2400 East, whereas 3300 South has mostly businesses along the road and (in my opinion) the Express Bus is more suited for such a demographic.
As mentioned above, my preference would be to keep this Express Bus route away from 3900 South. Please let me know what you think. I feel that we should voice our opinions now, even if the plan is not set in concrete yet and needs funding, etc.
Thanks & Regards,
Prasad Trilokekar
As mentioned above, my preference would be to keep this Express Bus route away from 3900 South. Please let me know what you think. I feel that we should voice our opinions now, even if the plan is not set in concrete yet and needs funding, etc.
Thanks & Regards,
Prasad Trilokekar
In response Ms. Iwamoto, head of Public Works for Salt Lake County, has made it clear to me as well as in an email to Prasad, that she will not advocate removing 3900 So. from being the designated EW corridor.
To fully understand these issues, it is important to understand a little of the history of corridors and rapid transit bus service. It is also important to look at the wording of the WFRC materials, rather than the oral statements that are being made about the document by county officials and Peter Corroon's office.
History:
· In 1964 Jaime Lerner, an architect in Curitiba Brazil, designed a corridor/rapid transit system to bring those without cars living on the outskirts of Curitiba into the city for jobs. This idea spread throughout Brazil, then to Europe then in the past ten years to the East Coast, Houston, and California, primarily.
- Governor Huntsman in 2005 introduced Senate Bill 8 which passed and designated a corridor fee of all vehicle registrations in Utah. This is still in effect and is noted as a "COR fee" of $10.00 (see photo below).
· In 2007, Senate Bill 69 required that “a priority list of transportation projects be created for Local Transportation Corridor Preservation Projects. At that time, the WFRC submitted their plan for 3900 So. to be an EW corridor in Salt Lake County , estimating the cost in 2007 dollars as $17 million. The WFRC material in 2007 says that Phase 2 projects could begin in 2016, later or earlier, depending on funding. At that time of this designation, 3900 South’s rating as a project went from 31 to 23.
· In July of 2009, Salt Lake County added this plan to the Millcreek General Plan. It was listed as a Phase 2 funded project and in the General Plan is listed as “Near term.”
· In the spring of 2009, East Millcreek Community Council, EMCC, set up a Residents' Committee to look into these issues and to write a General Plan specific to East Millcreek. This EMC General Plan, now called "EMC Best Practice" defines our area as highly residential, stable, characterized by schools, churches, parks and Mill Creek which runs through the center of our community. It specifies that lands currently designated as commercial should remain and be improved as needed, but that there should not be an increase in commercial development nor in housing density since this is already a built in, stable area..
· As the result of public concern, in the past year the word corridor was removed from the General Plan, although the concept remains.
· In January 2011, Max Johnson, Senior County Planner, added the wording "enhanced bus" service into the EMC Best Practice. In spite of requests to remove it, this has not occurred.
· In March of 2011, an open house was held by the WFRC concerning their Regional Transportation Plans and they have encouraged our feed back this month
Highlights from the WFRC materials (quotes):
- Definitions From “Glossary of Terms: Regional Transportation Plan: 2007 – 2030” WFRC.
- Enhanced Bus System - Enhanced Bus, also known as Type I BRT, is a rubber wheeled self propelled transit mode capable of operating in ordinary mixed traffic and limited purpose lanes but without significant exclusive lanes. Enhanced Bus is characterized by, but not limited to, standard vehicles using technology and limited stops to improve transit speeds. For the purpose of the 2030 LRP Update, Bus Rapid Transit includes standard articulated buses; light-rail like stations, queue jumpers, and signal priority. Station spacing is generally at one-mile intervals outside of the Central Business District. Operating frequencies are assumed to mirror that of the current Salt Lake to Sandy TRAX Line.
· Queue Jumper - Where a separate set of signals for transit are combined with either a short section of exclusive lane or transit exemptions to turning requirements are made to allow transit to by-pass a queue (line) of automobiles that develops at congested points such as intersections, interchange ramps, or bridge approaches.
· Strategy The reason that supporters of the 3900 So. corridor won’t remove 3900 So from being in the present General Plan and in the WFRC Regional Transportation Plans is made clear in the WFRC RTP 2007-2030: “The project is less likely to have opposition the longer it has been on local master plans. As new property owners come into the area, they will know that a project is being planned and sensitive land uses can be steered away from properties adjacent to the project.” It continues to say that prospective routes are given point values, and “the projects receive three points if they are on a local government master plan. . .”
· Route The planned route heading from west to east is from the new 3500 So corridor, up 3300 So to 700 E then south to 3900 So., continuing up to Wasatch Blvd.
· Cost Highland to Wasatch Blvd is estimated to cost $ 8,650,902. Although there are claims that this is not funded, 2007 literature indicates it as a “fully funded phase II project” and 3900 So. does not appear on the current “Unfunded Projects list.”
In summary, WFRC material and the Millcreek General Plan show that the 3900 So. route with attendant rapid transit, is a fully funded Phase II Project which could begin as early as 2016, only five years away (the latest map from WFRC shows Phase 2 2016 – 2025.) This information shows that there would be road widening to accommodate an additional bus lane each direction at traffic lights and other congested areas. The purpose of the additional traffic lane at lights is so that the buses could pull off to the right of traffic, operate a clicker, and change the light in their lane to green called "queue jumping."
We need to get 3900 So removed as the designated EW corridor. 3300 So.is much more logical as Prasad points out. It makes sense to continue from the west directly from the corridor on 3500 So straight up 3300 So. to Wasatch Blvd., then continue south to the Park N Ride on 3900 So to pick up passengers from 3900 So and 4500 So then turn around and continue back along 3300 So to the west side.
As co-chairman of the EMCC Citizen's Committee, I encourage you in the next week to voice your objection to 3900 So. being named the EW corridor. Follow Prasad's example, and write a concise statement of your objection. Numbers count! Please help us maintain our neighborhood as a largely residential area with Safe Routes to our many schools!!
The WFRC is seeking comments on its Draft 2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and a Draft Air Quality Conformity Analysis. The comment period will run from March 2, 2011 through April 1, 2011. Comments may be sent to Sam Klemm or by mail to:
Wasatch Front Regional Council
295 North Jimmy Doolittle Road
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Deirdre Paulsen
Co-chairman EMCC Citizen's Committee
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