Salt Lake City Region Pursues Commuter Rail

State senators make Utah light rail a priority by giving the Utah Transit Authority planning primacy if local governments can't reach their own agreements by January 2004. An interlocal agreement or legislature must be in place by March 2004 in order to receive federal funding this cycle. Cities worry that they will have to pay for local improvements, but UTA counsel Kathryn Pett disagrees saying that "Cities and towns will not be stuck for EIS-mandated features, such as sound walls or fencing or rail crossings. But [they] should pay for what goes beyond the federal baseline, and legislators agreed."