I appreciate the professional manner in which UTA and their consultants have shared information on the South Davis Transit Study with citizens and residents in our community. The open house at Centerville Jr. High School on March 2nd was very well attended. Despite a lot of emotional responses from the public, the UTA team was able to stay completely professional, as far as I could observe. Thank you for your efforts in that regard.
As a Main Street resident, I have no desire to ever see a streetcar line built on Main Street in Centerville. However, the planning that has been done is valuable, and I can understand that someday in the future, the population density of Centerville, and of South Davis County may increase, and change demographically in such a way that a more upscale mass transit system, such as streetcar system, could benefit many.
At the current time I see absolutely no economic justification for spending the estimated $400M+ required to build the system, or the increased maintenance costs. Currently there is very little public support for the streetcar system, and significant opposition. I suspect there would also be overwhelming opposition to the tax increases that would be required to build the proposed streetcar system at this time. I am also opposed to the current design of the system in Centerville with a final stop near Center street. It would like require condemnation of portions outside the right of way, which the City Council has opposed. The business owners in this area have expressed opposition to the stop, and this area does not seem a logical location for a transit stop. In my opinion, a better design would be to have the system stop at Pages lane as the final stop, or continue on to Parish, with a final stop nearer to the commercial and entertainment district on Parish Lane and 400 West.
Out of the choices available in the study, my personal opinion and recommendation is to favor the "no build" option. I believe that Centerville served relatively cost effectively with the bus program in place. I would like to see two major improvements to mass transit in Centerville that are not mentioned in the study, and would have a much better cost/benefit impact for residents and visitors than the streetcar system:
- Bus Stop Shelters on Main Street in Centerville. There are Main Street bus stops in Centerville that are frequently used, where riders would benefit significantly from simple bus stop Shelters. I frequently see potential riders in the rain or snow waiting near Parish and Main St and at other busy stops between Pages Lane and Parish Lane. For a relatively small amount of money, shelters could improve the transit experience in Centerville significantly, and would likely boost ridership.
- Frontrunner Stop at the planned Legacy Crossing development. A frontrunner stop integrated into the proposed Larry H. Miller Theater entertainment center and multi-family residential development near I-15 and Parish Lane would be very attractive to our community and would likely be used significantly more than a streetcar system. There is a great opportunity to plan now for the possibility of a Front Runner stop that would serve substantial commercial & residential traffic. A stop in this area would likely cost less than Centerville's portion of the streetcar system, and would attract riders.
Thank you again for the opportunity to share my comments.
1 comment:
Me too.
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