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TRAX West Valley Line

This page was last updated on June 1, 2013.

Overview

The West Valley TRAX line is a 5.1-mile light rail line connecting with the the Sandy to Salt Lake TRAX Line, with West Valley City, passing through Chesterfield and Decker Business Park.

The line leaves the 2100 South Central Pointe station and runs west crossing under Interstate 15. Bridges extend the line over the Union Pacific Railroad's Roper Yard, 900 West and the Jordan River. After crossing the Jordan River, the line turns south and then westward through the Chesterfield neighborhood and continues west across Redwood Road to Research Way. After following Decker Lake Drive to 3100 South, the light rail line continues west on the south side of 3100 South, then turns south on 2700 West, crossing 3500 South and ending at the West Valley City Hall, across from the Valley Fair Mall.

Officially known as the Green Line, the 5.1-mile, $370 million West Valley extension operates between the stations in West Valley and downtown. The Green Line continues west from Central Station to the city's international airport by way of the Airport Line.

Construction began in June 2008, and the West valley Line was completed and opened to the public on August 7, 2011.

Timeline

August 7, 2011
Service started on the UTA West Valley TRAX line on Sunday August 7, 2011.

UTA's West Valley Line was opened for public use. The line was built by a joint contracting team of Stacy Witbeck, and Kiewit Western. Two-thirds of the line is located on dedicated right of way, and one-third is running alongside city streets. Construction of the 5.1-mile, $250 million West Valley Line began in June 2008. UTA had declared the line "done" on April 28, 2011, but public use of the line would have to wait for training of employees, and the completion of testing and safety certification by the federal agencies. (part from Deseret News, April 28, 2011)

A grand opening ceremony was held on August 2, 2011, and the public was invited to ride the trains after donations to Utah's food bank. The line was officially opened on August 7, 2011.

July 8, 2011
The West Valley Line was designated as part of the Green Line on July 8, 2011; the other portion of the Green Line was to be the not-yet-completed Airport Line. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 9, 2011)

January 2010
The contractors on UTA's West Valley Line, Stacy-Whitbeck and Kiewit Western, completed the installation of an estimated 2.1 million cubic feet of Geofoam as part of the approaches to the overcrossing of Union Pacific's Roper Yard. The overcrossing is 780 feet in length. The Geofoam was in the form of 4x4x8 feet blocks of high-density expanded polystyrene, stacked to provide the approach ramps for the crossing structure. The Geofoam provided a stable basis for the lightweight fill material used to bring the approaches to their final levels, and avoided the weight of using traditional fill dirt, which would have taken three years to settle and become stable, allowing the project to be safely finished. The installation of Geofoam and lightweight fill material began in February 2009, taking less than one year to complete, compared to the three-year schedule of a traditional fill. The use of Geofoam and lightweight fill material allowed the approaches to be completed over existing utilities, without the need to relocate utilities that would have been damaged by the use of traditional (and much heavier) fill material. (ACH Foam news release, dated May 10, 2011)

The overcrossing of UP's tracks also required the use of several 10-foot tall steel girders, each weighing four million pounds. (Deseret News, April 28, 2011)

November 2009
The girders of the 900 West bridge were placed over the third weekend in November 2009. (UTA West Valley Line, weekly updates, November 20, 2009)

Concrete ties were placed along Constitution Boulevard (2700 West) during the third week in November 2009. (UTA West Valley Line, weekly updates, November 20, 2009)

October 2009
Decker Lake Drive was re-opened to auto traffic in the last week of October. Track work would continue in the center of the street. (UTA West Valley Line, weekly updates, October 30, 2009)

July 2009
The first rail was laid in the first week of July, in the Chesterfield area near the Brighton Canal. (UTA West Valley Line, weekly updates, July 10, 2009)

Decker Lake Drive was closed on July 27, 2009, for three months, to allow a complete rebuild of the street that would include new utilities and the installation of double track in the meridian. (UTA West Valley Line, weekly updates, July 30, 2009)

During the last week of July, girders were installed on the Jordan River bridge. (UTA West Valley Line, weekly updates, July 30, 2009)

June 18, 2008
UTA held a groundbreaking ceremony for the West Valley Line. (Deseret News, April 28, 2011)

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