The Midvalley Express (MVX), originally known as the Taylorsville-Murray BRT and later as Midvalley Connector) is an under construction bus rapid transit (BRT) line anticipated to run between

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

and

West Valley City West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and an inner suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Utah after Salt Lake City. The city inc ...

(passing through Taylorsville) in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States, that will be operated by the

Utah Transit Authority The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Park City, U ...

(UTA). It will connect the main campus of

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves almost 50,000 students on 8 campuses as well as through online ...

(SLCC) in Taylorsville with both the TRAX

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system and the ''

FrontRunner ''FrontRunner'' is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter railway operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) that runs along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from Ogden Central station in central Weber County, Utah, ...

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

. It is the fourth (third currently operating) of several BRT lines that UTA is planning along the

Wasatch Front The Wasatch Front is a major metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Utah. It consists of a chain of contiguous cities and towns stretched along the Wasatch Range from Santaquin in the south to Pleasant View in the n ...

. Bus Rapid Transit is described by UTA as "

on rubber tires".

Description

MVX will connect

Murray Central station Murray Central station is a light rail and commuter rail station in Murray, Utah, United States that is served by the Blue and Red lines of Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) TRAX light rail system that operates in Salt Lake County and ''FrontRun ...

with the

West Valley Central station West Valley Central station (also called the West Valley Intermodal Hub) is a light rail station in West Valley City, Utah served by the Green Line of the Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) TRAX light rail system. The Green Line provides service ...

, connecting with the

Intermountain Medical Center Intermountain Medical Center is the flagship hospital of Intermountain Healthcare. Located in Murray, Utah, United States, on a site at the center of the Salt Lake Valley, Intermountain Medical Center serves as a major adult referral center f ...

, Sorensen Research Park, Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville Redwood Campus, and the Calvin Rampton Complex (which houses the

Utah Department of Transportation The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is an agency of the state government of Utah, United States; it is usually referred to by its initials UDOT (pronounced "you-dot"). UDOT is responsible for approximately 5,900 miles (9,495 kilomet ...

, the Utah Department of Public Safety Driver License Division, and the Department of Technology Services) along the way. About a fifth of the approximately route will be in dedicated lanes along 4500/4700 South (Taylorsville Expressway/

Utah State Route 266 State Route 266 is a west–east thoroughfare completely within Salt Lake County in northern Utah that connects both sides of the I-215 beltway. It is known as 4500 South and 4700 South along the route. Route description SR-266 begins at ...

) with the other four-fifths running along various city streets. There are fifteen planned stops for the line. It began construction in the Spring of 2024, with construction anticipated to conclude during Fall 2026.

Route

UTA has assigned MVX the route number 50X.

Murray

MVX will begin its route at Murray Central station, with its connections to the

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

TRAX lines and ''FrontRunner'' at

in an expanded bus bay. It will exit at the intersection of Cottonwood Street and 100 West, turning north onto Cottonwood Street. It will continue by turning west onto Vine Street. After crossing over the railroad tracks, it will reach the Vine Street stop on the western side of the intersection with Commerce Drive. From there it will cross over

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

and turn north onto Murray Boulevard, and reach the next stop at approximately 5030 South on Murray Boulevard. After continuing north, it will use 4800 South/Murray Taylorsville Road to turn east and cross the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

and the

Jordan River Parkway The Jordan River Parkway is an approximately urban park that runs along the Jordan River within the U.S. state of Utah. The parkway follows along the river from Utah Lake in Utah County, through Salt Lake County and onto the Great Salt Lake i ...

Trail.

Taylorsville

Upon crossing the Jordan River, tMVX will leave Murray and enter Taylorsville. It will immediately turn north onto Sunstone Road, following the road to the northeast and reaching a stop halfway down the road. At the end of Sunstone Road, it will turn north onto Atherton Drive, which is also the road where the next stop is located, at approximately 4595 South (outside Monte Vista). Upon reaching the end of Atherton Drive, it will turn west onto 4500/4700 South and enter the dedicated guideways, in addition to immediately reaching its next stop, the first of three located in the median of the road. It will continue down 4500/4700 South in dedicated lanes until reaching Redwood Road (SR 68), stopping at more stops in the median along the way, with one at the west intersection of Atherton Drive, and the other at approximately 1300 West (outside of the Fore Lakes Golf Course). It will continue by turning north onto Redwood Road (exiting the dedicated lanes) then east onto Community Boulevard to reach a new transit hub in the south east corner of the Salt Lake Community College Campus. From there it will leave SLCC the way it came in in order to continue west on 4700 South. The route will have one more stop in Taylorsville, on 4700 South at 2200 West.

West Valley City

MVX will leave Taylorsville and enter West Valley by crossing under Interstate 215 and turning north onto 2700 West. The route will continue north on 2700 West, with 4 stops at approximately 4700 S (near the Calvin Rampton Complex), 4400 S (near the state complex and the American Express offices), 4100 South, and 3800 South. The route will reach its end by turning east onto 3650 South and entering West Valley Central Station, with its connection to the Green TRAX line. The route from West Valley to Murray is the same with the one exception that the eastbound stop at the east intersection of 4500/4700 South and Atherton Drive is on the side, rather than the median.

Stops

A total of fifteen stops are planned for the Midvalley Express.

Notes

References

External links

Midvalley Express Project – UTA website

Midvalley Connector Project Website
{{authority control Bus rapid transit in Utah Transportation in Salt Lake County, Utah Utah Transit Authority