Salt Lake City Light Rail: Airport to Downtown

The light rail connection between the Salt Lake City International Airport (the Airport) and downtown Salt Lake City has been part of Utah Transit Authority’s (UTA) regional transit plan since the early 1990’s. In 1999 an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the “Airport to University West-East Light Rail Project” was completed. This environmental document was for a light rail line from the Airport to downtown SLC and then on to the University of Utah. Due to funding constraints however, only the portion of the LRT line between downtown Salt Lake City and the University was constructed. In 2006, Salt Lake County voters approved additional funding for UTA rail transit projects. This funding specifically included the Airport Light Rail Transit (LRT) line connection from downtown Salt Lake City to the Airport. This paper focuses on three key aspects of the Airport LRT project: (1) existing and future terminal connections at the Airport; (2) sustainability concepts including Transit Oriented Development (TOD); and (3) innovative project delivery methods.