Latest news with #TrentStaggs
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
UTA to implement ‘significant' service changes. Here's what to know
'Significant' transit service updates are coming to the Wasatch Front. Utah Transit Authority plans to add five new bus routes across Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah counties beginning as early as Sunday. The agency will also make a few large route adjustments to existing routes and expand more on-demand microtransit services. The agency is expected to add 1.1 million service miles and hundreds of new bus stops to its growing service area. Some changes have already been implemented ahead of schedule. The new South Jordan Downtown TRAX station opened last month ahead of the Salt Lake Bees' first game in Daybreak. A pair of new routes in Salt Lake County highlight changes coming to UTA's bus system. Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, in 2022, voiced his frustration about the lack of transit service in the growing region, arguing that an already worsening traffic situation in the region could become "exacerbated" without alternatives. It ignited years of discussion and planning that landed in the new service. The new route — running every 60 minutes on weekdays — marks the beginning. The bus will connect UTA's Daybreak Parkway TRAX station at the end of the Red Line with Draper Town Center TRAX station at the end of the Blue Line via Bluffdale, Herriman and Riverton, as well as the Draper FrontRunner station along the way. Herriman Mayor Lorin Palmer told KSL-TV last week it serves as an important "part of the infrastructure" of the growing city because "we can only build so many roads." Meanwhile, Route 219 will also debut on Monday. The route, which will also run every 60 minutes, will connect UTA's Sandy Civic Center TRAX station along the Blue Line with Bluffdale, with stops in South Jordan and Riverton along the way. Other new bus routes set to launch include: Route 417: The service will connect Salt Lake City's west side with the Woods Cross FrontRunner station via stops along Redwood Road in northern Salt Lake and southern Davis counties. It will run every 30 minutes on weekdays beginning on Monday. Route 628: This route will replace the existing Midtown Trolley, adding more regular service and paratransit service to the route linking the Layton and Clearfield FrontRunner stations in Davis County. It will run every 30 minutes on weekdays and every hour on Saturdays. Route 823: The new service will run every hour between Provo Center Station and Spanish Fork via Springville on weekdays and on Saturdays. New routing is planned for a handful of other routes, including the ends of long-term detours for some routes and increasing frequency at others. Minor schedule tweaks are planned for dozens of other routes. More details can be found on UTA's website. Meanwhile, UTA on Demand — a microtransit system UTA made permanent in southern Salt Lake County nearly four years ago — is now coming to Utah County. Microtransit is essentially a blend between traditional bus and rideshare services. People can use an app to hail a ride from one portion of a service area to another, while the technology pairs other riders headed in a similar direction. UTA's new West Provo/Orem service area, debuting on Monday, covers 8.6 square miles, connecting Provo's and Orem's FrontRunner stations with key destinations like the Provo Airport. Service will be available within the zone from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day from Monday through Saturday. The agency also offers pockets of service within the west side of Salt Lake City, southern Davis County and eastern Tooele County. It recorded over 2,100 average weekday boardings at its peak last year, making it the busiest year of service it was officially added to the system in 2021. The new service figures to help Utah's largest transit agency as it seeks to bring transportation alternatives to the growing Wasatch Front. It logged over 40 million rides last year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, and ridership data from the first quarter of 2025 show that this year could inch the agency closer to pre-pandemic ridership levels. Carlton Christensen, chairman of UTA's board of trustees, told reporters earlier this week that the agency is still exploring further service expansions like a fourth TRAX line, more bus rapid transit systems and upgrades to FrontRunner, following a visit from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. All of those could increase future ridership. 'It's key to have an effective FrontRunner, TRAX (and) bus system in addition to our hard surface road area. It all comes together to accommodate the massive growth we have coming at us,' added Sen. John Curtis.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Riverton says ‘no' to fluoride in resolution
The Riverton City Council passed a unanimous resolution Wednesday urging fluoride be removed from its drinking water in a nod to legislation pending at the Capitol that would require its banishment from all public drinking water supplies in the state. 'I am pleased Riverton City is the first to support HB81, Fluoride Amendments, and I encourage all Utah state representatives and senators to vote in favor of passage. The Riverton City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of the legislation prohibiting the addition of fluoride in public water systems,' said Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs. 'I believe it reflects the sentiments of Riverton residents and the concerns over continuing to add fluoride. Upon passage by the state legislature, I have instructed Riverton City Public Works Department to immediately suspend fluoridating culinary water in city owned water systems.' The resolution is a nod to HB81, or Fluoride Amendments, by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, passed the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee on a 10-3 vote last week, with the majority of those in attendance testifying in favor of individual choice rather than mass 'medication' of drinking water. The bill would prohibit the introduction of the chemical in public drinking water systems by the end of May and upends current systems that practice fluoridation of their water, including Box Elder, Salt Lake and Davis counties. Stagg is joined by the two large water districts tasked with infusing drinking water with fluoride for Davis and Weber counties after voter-approved initiatives. Scott Paxman, general manager of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, said it cost the district millions of dollars to install the necessary equipment to infuse fluoride into its multicounty system that also serves Weber and Summit counties. Over protests by dentists and fluoride supporters about its benefits to oral health, the move for Utah to eliminate it from public drinking water supplies is gaining traction. 'Regardless of fluoride's purported health benefits, Utahns and their families should be able to choose for themselves whether and how to apply it. Riverton residents, living under Salt Lake County's fluoridation ordinances, have been denied that freedom to decide for themselves for nearly a quarter century. It's time to change that!' Stagg said, adding: 'Let's empower Utahns with independence to make their own individual health risk assessments pertaining to fluoride.' The bill stems from a federal district court ruling in September which said that .7 milligrams per liter of fluoride introduced into drinking water systems causes unreasonable risk. The ruling directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue guidance. The California-based judge said, 'The 'optimal' water fluoridation level in the United States of 0.7 milligrams per liter is nearly double that safe level of 0.4 milligram per liter for pregnant women and their offspring. In all, there is substantial and scientifically credible evidence establishing that fluoride poses a risk to human health.' Fluoride, while a naturally occurring substance comes from hydroflurosilicic acid that as a concentrate in its undiluted form is classified as a hazardous, poisonous material that, while it contains fluoride, also contains arsenic, lead, copper, manganese, iron and aluminum. It is a byproduct from phosphate mining operations. In 2019, a Sandy overfeed of fluoride that sickened dozens. An independent investigation found failure at all government levels for the accidental overfeed that was not publicly acknowledged for days. In some instances, residents were told there was a problem with their water heater that was causing the ill health effects.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Riverton City Council unanimously supports proposed law to remove fluoride
Related video: How a bill becomes law in Utah RIVERTON, Utah () — The Riverton City Council has thrown its weight behind supporting a proposed Utah law that would remove fluoride from the state's public water systems. H.B. 81 – titled – would ban the addition of mineral fluoride to public water supplies and allow pharmacists to prescribe fluoride to patients. It most recently passed out of a House Committee with a favorable 10-3 vote, with one absent. It now waits for a third reading on the House floor. Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs said he was pleased that the city is the first to support H.B. 81 and encouraged Utah lawmakers to pass the bill. He said that regardless of fluoride's 'purported health benefits,' Utahns should have a right to choose how to use it. READ MORE: Bill to remove fluoride from Utah's water passes House committee, moves to floor vote 'The Riverton City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of the legislation prohibiting the addition of fluoride in public water systems,' announced Staggs. 'I believe it reflects the sentiments of Riverton residents and the concerns over continuing to add fluoride.' Supporters of H.B. 81 have argued that the current levels of fluoride in Utah's water are harmful and agreed with Staggs that people should be able to choose whether or not to take fluoride. Critics of the bill, however, argue that the removal of fluoride on people's oral health, including a possible alarming rise in cavities, particularly in children. Staggs said he has instructed the Riverton City Public Works Department to immediately stop adding fluoride to the city-owned water systems as soon as the bill passes, should it pass. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
