![]() ![]() Carlton Christensen, chairman of the UTA Board of Trustees, said there have been 2.7 million trips to the airport since the line opened. The first airport station opened in April 2013 as a part of an extension of what was then the new TRAX Green Line running from the Salt Lake City International Airport to West Valley City, through downtown Salt Lake City in between. Nancy Volmer, a spokeswoman for the airport, added that the station and normal Green Line service is also valuable for close to thousands of employees who travel to and from the airport for work. "(Fewer minutes) that they can spend getting to the airport or getting from the airport, they can spend more time on the slopes and more time in our communities," she said. From there, those looking to get to Utah's ski resorts can use other UTA services or other forms of transportation. That's aided by having a light-rail station right outside of the airport that can take people right to the city. With Salt Lake City's airport beginning to inch closer to pre-COVID-19 pandemic traveler numbers - levels that fill up its parking lot - and business conventions slowly returning to downtown Salt Lake City, Eskelson is optimistic that tourism spending figures will return to normal soon. Salt Lake County accounted for nearly half of that between business and leisure visitation. In 2019, before COVID-19, tourism brought in over $10 billion. Visitation to Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, driven heavily by people coming into the state from the airport, plays a key role in Utah's tourism economy. It takes just 20 minutes to travel from the airport station to the City Creek Center station in downtown Salt Lake City. She said the station's "ease of access" is one of its premier selling points for people coming into Salt Lake City for travel. Kaitlin Eskelson, the president of Visit Salt Lake, said the station isn't just exciting for Utahns heading to the airport for travel. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Carlton Christensen, chairman of the board of trustees at Utah Transit Authority, and Bill Wyatt, executive director of the Salt Lake City International Airport, and other officials walk off a train as they gather to celebrate the new UTA TRAX airport station, marking the culmination of 20 months of construction extending TRAX to the new airport terminal, in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. And the opening of this TRAX (station) today changes the fabric of the experience of Salt Lake City and all of Utah." How you move when you're going on a business trip, when you're taking your family on vacation, and how you see and experience that place has so much to do with the beginning and the end of your travels from your home. "This is an exciting day for us," Mendenhall said. City, airport and UTA leaders say the station will serve as a convenient alternative to driving to the airport, much like the previous airport station did for the old Salt Lake City airport. The weather couldn't stop the celebration it marked the end of 20 months of construction that was delayed as a result of economic and pandemic-related issues. The train was supposed to break through a specially made banner to symbolize a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but strong winds tore the banner to shreds before the train arrived. They did so by arriving on a special Green Line light-rail car that arrived just outside of the airport's main terminal. On Monday, Wyatt, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Utah Transit Authority executives welcomed in the opening of the new Salt Lake City Airport TRAX Station. ![]() While he contends airport leaders such as himself will work to address parking in the future, he used that recent example to highlight the importance of another solution: mass transit. "That's a little troubling because that means it's entirely likely that there were people driving to the airport, bags in the trunk, ticket in hand, who couldn't find a place to park," said Bill Wyatt, director of the Salt Lake City International Airport. Its parking lot was completely full as a result of close to 30,000 travelers coming in to fly somewhere else. SALT LAKE CITY - Earlier this month, during the Utah school system's fall break, Salt Lake City International Airport staff ran into an issue they hadn't dealt with since the opening of the new airport terminal last year.Įvery single parking stall at the airport was taken. Reading or replaying the story in itsĪrchived form does not constitute a republication of the story. Only for your personal, non-commercial use.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |