Davis County leaders OK plans allowing $966M in FrontRunner track upgrades to move ahead

Davis County officials have signed off on an agreement with the state related to nearly $1 billion in planned upgrades along the FrontRunner corridor in the next five years to make the commuter rail line quicker and more efficient.
Work has yet to begin, but the brief discussion on the issue by county commissioners offers a hint of what to expect, at least in Davis County, in the years to come. The double-tracking plans call for the addition of a second section of rail line along eight segments of the 82-mile FrontRunner corridor in Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties.
“Big project,” Jason Fielding, deputy director of the Davis County Public Works Department, told commissioners when they took up the matter last week. “It’s going to be a lot of change, but it’s going to be good in the long run.”
Two rail sections in Davis County are to get double-tracking as part of the $966-million project — a 2.1-mile segment from the Woods Cross FrontRunner station north to West Bountiful and a 3.8-mile section north of Clearfield Station in Clearfield to Sunset. The Woods Cross-Bountiful section would be the “hardest-hit area,” Fielding said.
According to FrontRunner Forward, the plan published last year by the Utah Transit Authority outlining the double-tracking plans, adding a second line of track in the Woods Cross area will require an extension of a box culvert and underground placement of part of a Davis County canal. The improvements to both Davis County sections will require the relocation of utilities and power poles and the removal of buildings, though the document didn’t offer more specifics.
The project will disrupt some flood channels in the impacted area, according to Davis County Commissioner Lorene Kamalu. “We need to make sure they leave them good when they’re done,” she said. What’s more, adding track sections will require the acquisition of land, but Kamalu said county officials don’t have information on home takings or other project particulars, at least at this stage.
The FrontRunner Forward planning document states most upgrades would occur within UTA-owned right-of-way. “However, some residents and businesses may need to be relocated,” it reads. An estimated 73.4 acres of land would need to be acquired to accommodate the planned work along the 82-mile FrontRunner corridor, including 4.3 acres in the Woods Cross-West Bountiful section and 4.2 acres north of Clearfield.
The agreement Davis County commissioners approved on Oct. 15 with the Utah Department of Transportation essentially sets parameters for upgrades in the county with regard to the impact they have on county utilities, like flood-control infrastructure. “The project team has already been coordinating closely with Davis County and the respective cities on utilities impacts,” said Mitch Shaw, spokesman for UDOT, which is overseeing project development
Even so, Fielding said Davis County plans to hire an engineer to manage and oversee the evolution of the project “to make sure it meets our standards, it meets our specs.” UDOT officials, Shaw said, will also work with county and city officials in other areas where double-tracking is planned.
The double-tracking plans call for the addition of a second rail line in scattered segments of the 82-mile FrontRunner corridor to improve transit. Once done, 49% of the corridor will have double-tracking, up from 26% currently, allowing for more frequent train service, among other things. “This allows more trains to operate and pass each other and reduces delays due to waiting to share track,” reads the website for the FrontRunner 2X Project, as the initiative is known.
According to Fielding, the work in Davis County will take five years, with an estimated completion in mid-October 2029. Shaw said UDOT officials overseeing the project are still working on design details, while the double-tracking website says the precise construction schedule has yet to be determined.
Federal funds are expected to cover 70% of the project’s estimated price tag of $966 million, with 30% coming from state and local funds, reads the 2X Project website.