While recessionary concerns threaten to reduce or close government projects across the state, a planned commuter rail extension into Utah County is rolling along just fine.

"As far as budget cuts go, that is not an issue," said Carrie Bohnsack-Ware, spokeswoman for Utah Transit Authority, which is heading up the FrontRunner endeavor. "We are plowing ahead at full steam -- pun intended."

The FrontRunner South project will connect the new railway from its Salt Lake Central Station to an intermodal center at 600 South in Provo, with stops along the way in Orem, Vineyard, American Fork, Lehi, Draper, Sandy and Murray. It's part of UTA's $2.2 billion FrontLines 2015 program, a series of commuter and light rail projects funded by federal and local authorities. The expansion is well under way and could be open "if everything goes well" in 2012, said project manager Steve Meyer, though it's unclear what the final cost will be.

"There isn't an easy answer because of several factors," he said. "There are over 300 individual parcels of right-of-way that we're in the process of acquiring."

But it's more than that, Meyer said. Along the way, existing Union Pacific track must be moved, utility lines must be relocated, bridges must be built -- all of which depends on parties outside of UTA's control. He said it's a safe bet the final price tag will be significantly higher than FrontRunner North's, which topped $600 million for an equal length of track -- 44 miles -- between Salt Lake City and Ogden.

"That was good practice up north," said Meyer, who also managed the first half of the project. "This is the real deal."

The biggest difference between the two legs is the number of structures needed to make the southern route work, he said. The northern segment required just two bridges. The southern part looks to require at least 60 structures, including bridges, boxes and irrigation. Construction is already under way for a bridge over the American Fork River, and brush clearing and grading is being done at other spots along the future line.

"This year's going to be a big year for us to get a lot of work done," Meyer said. "We're dependent upon those third parties to get some of that work done to open up the corridor."

Utah County's FrontRunner stations will be positioned along the Interstate 15 corridor at high-population nexuses: Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, the new Main Street interchange in American Fork, the old Geneva site in Vineyard, west of Utah Valley University in Orem, and at University Avenue and 600 South in Provo. The Vineyard station won't open with the others, but will be added as the county continues to grow, Meyer said.

The Orem and Provo stations will be part of larger "intermodal centers" that will also offer commuters an option to finish their trips on special "bus rapid transit" lines. The buses are designed to move rapidly through city streets to popular stops such as Brigham Young University. It's all part of a larger plan to make it possible for county residents to leave their cars behind and be able to access faraway destinations -- like the Salt Lake International Airport, EnergySolutions Arena or the University of Utah -- using public transportation, said Gary McGinn, Provo's director of community development.

"That'll be a major link," he said. "Once we have that backbone of good, reliable bus rapid transit service in our city, then we can have more local bus service branching off that spine into other areas of our city."

McGinn said Provo's intermodal center is scheduled to open concurrently with FrontRunner South.

When FrontRunner opens, travel from Provo to Ogden -- the line's terminal points -- should take just under two hours, Meyer said. But it may not stop there: There are discussions about extending the line as far south as Nephi, with additional stops in Springville and Payson, and as far north as Brigham City. He said Springville has already picked a site, and Payson has created a transit-oriented zone in preparation for future expansion.

"That 120 miles encompasses about 80 percent of the state's population," Meyer said. "That'd be the spine of the Utah transportation corridor."

• Ace Stryker can be reached at astryker@heraldextra.com.

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