By Sarah Cahoon
The Utah Transit Authority University Line will open for business on Dec. 15, ahead of schedule and within budget, UTA reports.
This system is a 2.5-mile light rail extension to UTA''s North/South TRAX Line. As part of a nationwide transit program, the University Line was designed and built with federal and local funds. The line will connect the University of Utah and downtown Salt Lake City, starting at Main Street and going to Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The system engineers have been testing vehicle clearance and train signalization. Testing activities will continue periodically from now until the line''s official opening, UTA reported.
According to the Transportation Department at the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, the existing UTA TRAX system, along with the new University TRAX line, will operate at a higher frequency with longer trains than usual.
Kris McBride, a UTA spokesperson said UTA has added 10 new cars and arranged to borrow 29 additional light-rail vehicles, nearly doubling the number of cars run.
The University line, which will open this winter, will operate during the Games except after 1 p.m. on Feb. 6, 8, and 24 to allow for preparations related to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. On those dates, shuttle busses will run between a location near the Courthouse station and Rice Eccles Olympic Stadium.
However, Jenny Blanck, a student at the University of Utah, said TRAX still isn''t convenient enough.
Blank said if UTA could put in more stations so she wouldn''t have to drive so far to a station and mess with the nightmare of parking, she would be happier about TRAX.
'A lot of people around here won''t end up riding the line,' Blanck said, 'but they are happy that it is here and that it is helping the environment.'
Meagan Alder, a University of Utah student living in downtown Salt Lake, is excited for the University Line to open for business.
'I am really looking forward to because I can ride TRAX all the way from my house, well almost, and then get to school. It will be great,' Alder said.
Parking has become a problem for U of U students in general. Reports from the Parking and Transportation Services for the University show that around 30 percent of main campus parking spaces will be used by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee while classes are still in session. Nearly 4,100 U of U parking spaces will be handed over to various Olympic officials over the next 4 months.
To help alleviate the inconvenience on students, UTA is letting U of U students ride for free with their student ID.
The University Light Rail Transit Line, to be owned and operated by the UTA, began construction the week of June 26, 2000 and was tested for the first time Nov. 3.
The public is invited to ride the University Line on opening day, Dec. 15, free of charge.