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A resident speaks during a FrontRunner focus group at the Springville Civic Center on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Residents listen to a presentation during a FrontRunner focus group at the Springville Civic Center on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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The Utah Transit Authority held a focus group at the Springville Civic Center on Friday to hear from the public about plans to build a FrontRunner station in Springville. This station is part of a bigger plan to extend the FrontRunner from Provo to Payson to handle projected growth. 

“According to MAG’s TransPlan50, by 2050 Utah County is expected to nearly double in population — adding over 660,000 more people and surpassing 1.3 million people. This equates to nearly a 100 percent growth rate and more than doubles the population of any other Wasatch Front county,” reads the South Valley Transit Study Final Report, published in January 2022.

Fourteen miles of track will be laid down and three new stations will be built: one in Springville, one in Spanish Fork and one in Payson, with a bus line going from Payson to Santaquin. The project is estimated to cost up to $750 million.

The plan for Springville, titled the Westfield Community Plan, was first created in 2002. It was presented by representatives from DesignWorkshop, the company designing the project for UTA and the city of Springville.

“We hope to have a plan adoption by the end of this summer, with two stations being built here in about five to 10 years,” said Chris Geddes, DesignWorkshop planner. 

The survey shown in the presentation received over 400 responses. Meeting participants and survey respondents include young parents, local business owners and longtime residents, among others.

At the top of the priority list for residents was safety, along with walking and biking connections to the station, affordable housing nearby for young families, disability accessibility and local transit access.

Concerns included a lack of community areas, new gated communities surrounding the station, the location of the station, as well as the direction passengers will board the platform from, considering Provo station’s platform faces west.

One priority for residents was building a center of town around the station, where friends and family could gather for entertainment, meals and shopping.

“I love the old town vibe but you don’t see an area out here where people want to shop and move their family here like the Farmington station, which is what we want,” said Sue Cox. Cox moved to Springville in 2021. 

Farmington’s Station Park is an outdoor mall in Davis County that also includes living options and a commuter rail station.

Another priority for parents and homeowners was creating a safe space around the station.

“I want this to be a safe place where my kids won’t get run over by cars, that’s not next to a road with cars going 60 miles an hour. We need this to be a hub with safe transit that’s not reliant only on people in cars,” said resident Kurtt Boucher.

Above all else, planners hope to keep the feel of the city while making structural changes.

“There’s a character about Springville that’s important to people,” Geddes said. “We want to preserve that, as well as build on it.”

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