PRELIMINARY engineering was due to be completed in December for the second light rail line in Salt Lake City, which Utah Transit Authority hopes to have open in time for the Winter Olympic Games in February 2002. DeLeuw Cather & Co was expected to complete the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wasach Front Regional Council at the end of November.
The fast-track schedule provides for final design to be completed by the end of 1999 and construction by July 2001 ahead of the planned opening in November 2001. The first phase will link the Airport to the University of Utah, serving en route the Rice Stadium. Future extensions could run west to the the International Centre and east to Hogle Zoo, This Is The Place, and Research Park.
Most civil engineering has been completed on the 24·1 km Line 1 between Salt Lake City and Sandy, which is being marketed as Transit Express or TRAX. Overhead wiring will get under way early this year, with test running to start in the autumn. UTA expects to begin revenue services in March 2000.
