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Salina, UT Could Get 45-mile Spur Off of UP Main Line


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#1 NickG

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Posted 01 December 2003 - 10:18 AM

From NBC-5 in Salt Lake City:

Imagine what it would be like to have a big coal-truck drive past your house once every minute, on average, 24 hours a day. That's exactly what people some people in Central Utah have lived with for a long time, and now a possible change is in the works.

The proposal is for Utah's first major new railroad in decades. And how's this for efficiency? One coal train would replace 750 trucks. That would make a huge difference in downtown Salina.


The full story is here.
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#2 CNJRoss

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Posted 28 May 2015 - 10:32 AM

STB news release, 5/22:

 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD ISSUES FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR SIX COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS’ PROPOSED RAIL LINE BETWEEN LEVAN AND SALINA, UTAH   ecblank.gifecblank.gifecblank.gif

 

The Surface Transportation Board announced today that its Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) for the proposed construction and operation of a 43-mile rail line between Levan and Salina, Utah. Approval to construct and operate the line is being sought by the Six County Association of Governments’ (Six Counties), an association of local governments located in central Utah.

 

The rail line would run from a proposed coal transfer facility in Salina to a connection with a Union Pacific Railroad mainline near Levan and would allow coal currently being shipped by truck to be transported by rail. OEA worked with two cooperating agencies - the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - on the Final EIS.

The Final EIS sets forth OEA’s final recommendations to the Board on an environmentally preferred alternative route and mitigation measures to minimize environmental impacts, based on OEA’s consultation with Federal, state, and local agencies and input from citizens and organizations in Utah. Issuance of the Final EIS completes the environmental review process, following a 2007 Draft EIS and a 2014 Supplemental Draft EIS. The Board now will decide whether to grant final approval for the proposal. In reaching a final decision, the Board will take into consideration the Draft EIS, Supplemental DEIS, and Final EIS, including OEA’s final recommendations.

The Final EIS was issued today in the proceeding entitled Six County Association Of Governments—Construction And Operation Exemption—Rail Line Between Levan And Salina, Utah, Docket No. FD 34075. (The local governments that comprise Six Counties are Sevier, Juab, Sanpete, Millard, Piute, and Wayne Counties.) The entire Final EIS is available for viewing and downloading via the Board’s Website, at http://www.stb.dot.gov, under E-LIBRARY on the home page, then under Decisions & Notices, beneath the date 05/22/15. The FEIS also is available under ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS on the home page, then under Key Cases.



#3 CNJRoss

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Posted 15 August 2015 - 01:13 PM

The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, 8/15:

 

Proposed Utah railroad clearing environmental hurdle, but how to pay for it?

 

Richfield • At a peak rate of one per minute, trucks carrying 43 tons of coal each from the Sufco mine travel the highway from Salina to a rail siding near Levan. Joining them is another steady parade of trucks loaded with salt from Redmond Minerals.

 

Travel to the distant rail connection increases costs and limits markets for those companies and others. It also wears ruts into the northbound side of State Road 28. The southbound lane is smooth because trucks returning empty are lighter.

 

All those heavy loads soon could be diverted onto a new 48-mile railroad — a long-sought line seen by local leaders as a missing link needed to attract new businesses to rural central Utah.

 

After 12 years of work, the proposed Central Utah Rail Project is expected to win final federal environmental clearance this month. But another big problem now looms: how to cover the rail route's projected $124 million price tag.

 

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