The Economic Engine of the Rio Grande Plan

Guest blog by Taylor Larsen

Since its creation by Christian Lenhart and Cameron Blakely in 2020, the citizen-driven Rio Grande Plan has shared a vision: to remove railroad crossings, revitalize a neighborhood, and reuse the historic Rio Grande Depot as Salt Lake City’s main transit hub. But in the last two years, this engine for social and economic change has been stuck in first or second gear.

While a 2023 screening analysis showed the project as feasible, it put a price tag on the Rio Grande Plan that required a double-take.

$5 billion.

Cost, like on so many other transformational projects, became the dominant talking point and slowed the Plan’s momentum. Even with assurances of available federal money, and even with real estate developers hungry to transform the western part of downtown Salt Lake City near the station, the cost was often a discussion-ending.

But our team recently received the benefits side of the equation to balance the costs. This helps change the conversation entirely. Utah State University’s recently completed economic benefit analysis injected something new for decision-makers to consider: how much do Salt Lake City and Utah stand to benefit from implementing the Rio Grande Plan?

Those numbers require a triple take—and a smile.

Implementing the Rio Grande plan would deliver $12 billion in economic benefits, from the first shovel in the ground through the first year of operations.

The project would bring in 50,000 jobs, with billions in wages paid, to build the infrastructure and set the stage for a transit and rail renaissance in Salt Lake City. Of those jobs, 13,000 of them would be permanent, indirectly or directly because of full development of the 75-plus-acre project.

The benefits don’t stop there. The report found that 2,700 more housing units would go up in a rejuvenated neighborhood fully connected to a full range of rail systems.

These numbers, and the details in the full report, are impressive. What Salt Lake City and the State of Utah stand to gain from the Rio Grande Plan is economically transformative.

Economics drive a lot of change, especially in conservative and business-first states like Utah. Thankfully, realigning and burying the tracks, restoring the Rio Grande Depot, reconnecting the city, and revitalizing the neighborhood would result in massive economic wins for the area and beyond—and produce so much social good.

We stand to gain so much by implementing the Rio Grande Plan, even if it doesn’t readily appear on a balance sheet:

• Freedom: While pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists will have the freedom to safely pass over trains when traveling across the city, residents and visitors will have the freedom to travel on rail systems across the state and country. We’re already looking forward to hosting High Speed Rail Alliance members visiting the Beehive State for our famous pastrami burgers!
• Opportunity: Multiple Salt Lake City neighborhoods that have struggled for decades because they are so near to at-grade crossings and surface rail will have those barriers removed. With the Rio Grande Plan, they will have a new opportunity to grow.
• Prosperity: Residents and businesses in the neighborhood are sure to prosper with these new opportunities. The rest of the state will prosper as well, as Utah shares future tax revenues from spending, wages, and new commercial developments.
• Connection: Whether it is to jobs, family, friends, entertainment, or other opportunities between the east and west sides of Salt Lake City, residents and visitors will gain literal and figurative connections.

These benefits have always been part of the Rio Grande Plan. Now, after five years of volunteer organizing, the new economic analysis shows the Plan as both feasible and profitable. Today, Utah legislators and major real estate developers are considering next steps to implement this plan.

Economics will continue to drive much of the decision-making we see on mega-projects such as these. We welcome that. The Rio Grand Plan shows a clear path, and legislators, Union Pacific, and other stakeholders can help this economic engine take us to a beautiful future.

Taylor Larsen is a volunteer for the Rio Grande Plan.