APRIL 10 saw a formal sod-turning ceremony for the TRAX light rail line in Salt Lake City. This followed the award of contracts by Utah Transit Authority on March 26 for conversion of the existing railway between the city centre and the southern suburb of Sandy (RG 10.96 p645).
Carter-Burgess/Jacobson will provide construction management services worth around $4·9m. L B Foster Co is to supply special trackwork, CXT Inc will manufacture 45000 concrete sleepers and 24 pedestrian crossings, and Amcor Precast concrete level crossing panels. Gilbert Western Corp, a subsidiary of Kiewit Construction Group, was selected for the $29·3m contract for civil works on the railway corridor, but this was later rescinded and new bids were called for a decision on April 25.
- Further light rail plans have been unveiled in Colorado. Denver has selected a route for its third extension, running west from Auraria Campus along 13th Avenue to Simms Street, and then south to the Denver Federal Center, a major employment zone. Costing $255m, it would use the former Denver & Intermountain interurban corridor.
Community leaders in the ski resort of Aspen are seeking federal funding for a $124m light rail line to carry visitors and workers along a 61 km route through the Roaring Fork Valley from Glenwood Springs. Light rail is seen as the best solution to Aspen’s soaring population and visitor growth, which are bringing unmanageable traffic congestion and air pollution. o
