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Executive Appropriations Committee approves $10 million loan to revive Tooele County rail link
Summary
The committee approved a $10 million loan from the Utah Inland Port Authority to rebuild abandoned track and connect Lakeview Multimodal Business Park to Class I rail, a project the port authority says will remove an estimated 5,000 trucks from Salt Lake City-area roads.
The Executive Appropriations Committee on Feb. 18 approved a $10 million infrastructure loan from the Utah Inland Port Authority to rebuild and extend rail in Tooele County.
The loan, recommended by the port’s loan committee and approved by the Inland Port Board, will be for 10 years at a 3.45% interest rate and is intended to revive a six-mile abandoned Union Pacific line and construct five miles of new track to link the Lakeview Multimodal Business Park to a Class I rail line and transload facility near Burmester, Utah. The Authority estimated the project could remove about 5,000 trucks from roads in the northwest quadrant of Salt Lake City.
Ben Hart, executive director of the Utah Inland Port Authority, presented the loan background and said the request originates from the Authority Infrastructure Bank, a program funded by the Legislature roughly four years ago with $65,000,000 for logistical infrastructure. Ariane Gibson, the port authority’s chief financial officer, handled the formal presentation and outlined the loan committee’s recommendation, which named the Savage to Willow Railroad as the recipient.
A committee member moved to advance the item and approve the loan as presented; the chair called the voice vote and the motion carried without recorded opposition.
The loan package as described will be used for track rehabilitation and new construction to connect the Lakeview Multimodal Business Park to Class I rail. The committee did not set an implementation schedule, name a specific department assignee for construction oversight, nor specify additional required state permits; those details were not provided in the presentation.
The discussion recorded in the transcript consisted of the port’s presentation and brief committee acknowledgement; no amendments to the loan terms were offered on the record.
Votes at the meeting also included routine business items and other budget motions (see the meeting summary article for the full list of votes and the social services funding adjustment that passed later in the hearing).
Ending: The committee approved the loan and advanced the port authority’s request to the next steps of the process; further procedural or contracting steps were not detailed during the presentation.
