IMPORTANT STREETCAR UPDATE

Dear Trolley District Neighbors,

It is with great frustration and disappointment that I am writing to you today.  We have suffered a major setback in our efforts to revitalize the city of Ogden and the Trolley District, with the promise of restoring urban rail transit.  The “Stakeholder” group that met yesterday, voted to move into the next phase of project development with the Washington-36th street alignment, also including “some language” about considering Washington-30th Street as a possible alternative.   While we are disappointed in this outcome, it is not unexpected for two reasons:  1.  UTA has clearly had a 36th Street outcome planned since the beginning of this process and has imposed this bias in all of the reports and meetings that have been held to date.  And 2.  UTA selected a “Stakeholder” committee that largely defies the definition of what a Stakeholder is...aside from our two Council Members and Mayor none of the stakeholders live in any proximity to the proposed streetcar, will likely never ride it, and have no direct-relationship to the effects of their decision in this matter.

We at the Trolley District are seriously disappointed in UTA’s continued disregard for the public that it is appointed to serve.  Even after meeting with our group and agreeing to a compromise of taking both the 36th street and the 25th street alignments into the next phase of project development, UTA in bad faith did not see this commitment through.  This outcome is just another example in a recent string of corruption and poor decision making on the part of a bureaucracy that is clearly out of control!

Now we must prepare for the upcoming community meeting where UTA expects to present their findings and receive public feedback as part of the formal public process.  We know that UTA sees this as a mere formality, but we need to show them that the public is invested in the future of our community! Please contact your city council person and tell them how you feel about streetcars, and ask them to look at a long-range plan for Harrison Boulevard so that this corridor does not become a 7-lane highway.  And, plan on being out if full force at the public comment meeting!  We have not heard the details yet on the time and place of the meeting, but we will let you know as soon as we hear anything!

Thank you for your continued support!

The Trolley District