TRAX=20 adds urban stop to route

U=20 graduate students set to study impact of new station on local = neighborhood and=20 residents

By = Dustin=20 Gardiner

Published: Thursday,=20 September 1, 2005

3D"Construction

Media=20 Credit: Kevin Buehler

Construction=20 continues on the new TRAX Sandy Line station located = at 900=20 South and 200 West in Salt Lake City. With the new = stop slated=20 to open Sept. 20, researchers are looking into how it = will=20 effect the surrounding = neighborhoods.

As UTA prepares to open a new TRAX = station at=20 900 South and 200 West in mid-September, a group of U graduate = students=20 and their professor have undertaken a research project that will = study the=20 impact the station will have on the local neighborhood and its=20 residents.

The study will look at how the new station = impacts=20 exercise patterns, overall satisfaction, housing prices and access = to=20 services in the neighborhood.

The students will survey = residents=20 within a half-mile radius of the station with a series of = questions both=20 before and after the station is built. The information gathered = will allow=20 them to see how the new TRAX station has affected the residents' = outlook=20 on the neighborhood.

In addition to the survey, residents = who=20 volunteer will also wear an accelerometer, a device used to = measure a=20 person's motion, for a week to see whether being located near a = TRAX=20 station increases their daily activity.

The hypothesis is = that when=20 people have convenient access to mass transit they walk more, = increasing=20 their daily moderate activity, said Stephanie Nalbone, a student = on the=20 project.

"If exercise can be built into other parts of = daily life=20 it might make a healthier population," said Barbara Brown, the = professor=20 leading the study.

The hypothesis also states that people = will be=20 more likely to walk and use mass transit if their neighborhoods = were more=20 pedestrian-friendly.

Several key features to making = neighborhoods=20 more conducive to pedestrians and mass transit are wide sidewalks, = slow=20 traffic and low crime rates, Brown said.

"Everyone owns a = car, so=20 you have to make neighborhood-walking options attractive enough to = get=20 them out of their cars," Brown said. "People want attractive = destinations=20 and comfortable ways to get there."

Brown, who has studied = the=20 impact of TRAX expansion for several years, said she thinks the = new=20 station will provide a rare opportunity to study the effects of = TRAX=20 because this is the first truly urban residential stop. =

She also=20 said that it is essential for Salt Lake City to continue to invest = in mass=20 transit for the future.

"If you step back and look at how = SLC is=20 changing, this could be a very unlivable valley by 2050 if we = continue to=20 rely on cars to get around," Brown said.

In addition to = increasing=20 activity, another potential positive effect of the new TRAX = station on the=20 neighborhood is making housing more affordable.

Nalbone = explained=20 that housing near TRAX could be cheaper because people don't need = as much=20 space for parking, which can in turn make housing more affordable. = She=20 noted that development in the area has greatly increased over past = months,=20 even though the station has yet to be built.

The study, = which began=20 in May of this year, will be completed in the summer of 2006 after = residents are surveyed in the spring.

dgardiner@chronicle.utah.edu= =20

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