Moving rails in Salt Lake underground is costly. Will new benefits report change the debate?
Apr 24, 2025, 8:49 AM
A rendering of what the Rio Grande District could look like. A Utah State University report published Wednesday found the project could spur over $12 billion in economic benefits. (Rio Grande)
(Rio Grande)
SALT LAKE CITY — The projected cost of an ambitious grassroots plan to move the railroad west of downtown Salt Lake City underground has loomed over most of the discussions regarding the project.
Leaders of the resident-led project, and local and state allies they’ve met along the way, say they believe a new economic benefits report will change the conversation.
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The Rio Grande Plan, which could cost $3 billion to $5 billion or more to construct, has the potential to generate $12.3 billion in economic impacts, according to the Rio Grande Plan Economic Benefit Analysis released on Wednesday by researchers at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Analytics Solution Center.
If the land currently covered by rails is redeveloped as proponents hope, it could spur billions in annual commercial output.
“We think that this is going to be one of the most impactful and meaningful projects in Salt Lake City,” said Pedram Jahangiry, an assistant professor of data analytics and information systems at the center.
Calculating a major benefit
The Rio Grande Plan calls for the existing railroad corridor to be moved underground through a train box, from 400 North to 1300 South near downtown Salt Lake City. Advocates say doing so will improve safety and east-west connectivity because it removes interactions with trains. It could also open up about 75 acres of land for future redevelopment.
All of these potentials have helped the plan receive support from Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County in recent years.
The study used IMPLAN economic modeling to explore direct and indirect effects within various economic sectors tied to the plan, both during construction and afterward.
Researchers considered all the short-term impacts during construction, such as businesses buying materials or workers paying rent with wages. This is spread out over the estimated four to six years it could take to build the underground line, said Curtis Bishop, a graduate student in financial economics at Utah State University and one of the study’s authors.
About 30% of the potentially redeveloped land would likely go toward transportation and other easements on the land, while half of it would go toward new housing and commercial space, per a previous Salt Lake City report. Potential land-use allocations were blended in with existing Census Bureau data and other datasets to generate some of the project’s long-term economic values, he added.
The project has the potential to create about 51,800 jobs, many of which would come from construction. It could also produce $376 million in new state or local tax revenue. The new development could generate nearly $3.2 billion in annual commercial output and support about 13,600 jobs, per the report.
