UDOT, UTA identify light rail as locally preferred alternative for Point of the Mountain transit; significant funding gap remains

The Utah Department of Transportation and Utah Transit Authority on Wednesday said light rail transit is the locally preferred alternative for high‑capacity transit across the Point of the Mountain corridor between Lehi and Draper, but that the project lacks funding to move immediately into full construction.

The locally preferred alternative, or LPA, was announced after release of a transit study update and a federal environmental assessment. “Light rail has been identified as the LPA based on these key criteria. It had the highest potential for economic growth. It had the highest forecasted ridership,” Jim Golden, transit division director at the Utah Department of Transportation, said during the Point of the Mountain public meeting.

The LPA matters because it sets the project configuration that the environmental review analyzed and that planners will seek funding to implement. The environmental assessment (EA) and transit study update examined three modes — bus rapid transit (BRT), light rail transit (LRT or TRAX), and a rail option referred to in the EA as XMU (a multi‑unit rail vehicle that could be diesel, hydrogen or battery powered). Officials said LRT best met long‑term goals for regional connectivity, travel time and economic development even though it requires substantially more capital investment than BRT.

What the EA found

Patty Garber, manager of environmental compliance and sustainability at UTA, summarized environmental differences among the modes: BRT produced the…