Rio Grande Plan proposal hopes to be new 'front door' into Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Salt Lake City is considering an ambitious project to transform a part of its downtown area, known as the Rio Grande Plan. Currently in its early conceptual stages, the plan includes moving train tracks underground and redeveloping a 75-acre area.

As first reported by Building Salt Lake, the proposed plan comes with a significant price tag. Initially estimated to cost between $300 and $500 million, a recent report has revised the figure to $3 billion.

Proponents argue that the investment is necessary to remove barriers and revitalize the Rio Grande Depot area.

Matt Caputo, owner of Caputo's Market & Deli in downtown Salt Lake, supports the idea.

"Business is great," Caputo said. "There's so many bricks on sticks, I call them, going up around town."

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He believes that revamping the area, which is only a few blocks from his business, is a promising concept.

"To get just a few blocks away down there you got to go over overpasses, dodge trains, and all sorts of stuff," he said.

The plan involves creating a "train box", a mile and a half long structure under 500 West, to relocate six Union Pacific and UTA tracks from the street level.

Christian Lenhart, one of the co-authors of the original proposal pitched four years ago, highlighted the transformative potential of the project.

"It would be a dramatic change for downtown and for the east-west divide," Lenhart said.

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The project also aims to revitalize the Rio Grande Depot and the surrounding 75 acres.

"This area of town that has been kind of a no-man's land between east and west will become a focal point of the community, a real front door for people coming and arriving in Salt Lake City," he said.

While acknowledging the hefty cost, Lenhart believes the benefits justify the investment.

"It's a very big number and it might even seem unreasonable if you don't know what benefits are going to come from that and how the plan can actually pay for some of the cost on the backend," he said.

A public meeting on the Rio Grande Plan is scheduled for Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Industry Building.