FrontRunner 2X concrete pours begin Thursday, three mornings a week before dawn

DRAPER — Crews on the FrontRunner 2X project will begin pouring concrete in the South of Draper section as early as Thursday, Nov. 5, with the work scheduled to run through mid-February 2027, according to the project's own construction notice 1.

The pours are tied to the canal work already under way. The notice says the concrete is part of that canal job, and that pours will run three days a week between 4 a.m. and approximately 8 a.m. to keep crews safe and the worksite uncongested 1. Residents should expect temporary lighting directed away from the neighborhood, noise from equipment and work activity, including white-noise backup warnings; the notice says trucks will not be routed through the neighborhood and that crews will minimize noise where they can 1.

That canal work began on the other side of the corridor in September. A project notice dated Sept. 21, 2026 put crews to work on a section of canal east of Royal Coachman Drive in Bluffdale — security fence, tree removal, excavation and a canal box culvert — with hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and work continuing through spring 2027 2. That notice said trees along the park strip on the neighborhood side of the fence would not be removed, and that equipment would be staged inside the canal right of way and kept off Royal Coachman Drive 2.

What is being built is a double-track lengthening, not a new rail line. The project's environmental review describes the section as running between UTA mileposts S 20.5 and S 17.2, a distance of about 3.3 miles carrying 2.8 miles of new double track and track tie-in, in Bluffdale and Draper, between 0.75 and 1 mile west of I-15 3. It lengthens the existing double track at Draper Station — about 1.0 mile, used mainly so trains traveling in opposite directions can pass — by roughly 2.8 miles 3.

The physical work is substantial. North of Bangerter Highway the project calls for a new mainline track east of the existing one, one new turnout, a new bridge over Bangerter Highway and 14600 South, demolition of an existing retaining wall and new retaining walls on the corridor's west side, an extension of the Jordan and Salt Lake City Canal culvert beneath the Bangerter Highway bridge's south approach, relocation of about 1,200 feet of overhead electric distribution line, and relocation of UTA's communications and signal duct bank 3. South of Bangerter Highway the existing mainline stays where it is and the new track goes in west of it 3.

The program includes a station in Bluffdale. The project's FAQ says the new FrontRunner station will be located in Bluffdale City, on the south end of the Draper double track segment, chosen because it is adjacent to The Point and because alternative sites had limited development potential, difficult rider access or conflicts with other planned infrastructure 4.

Across the corridor, FrontRunner 2X is a larger package than this one section. A project fact sheet dated Sept. 2, 2026 lists 26.1 miles of added double track across 11 sections, one realigned section, 10 new trainsets, a new maintenance facility and one new station, with service moving to 15-minute peaks and 30-minute all-day frequency from 30 and 60 minutes today, and ridership projected to rise 53% by 2050 5. A separate project page puts the share of double-tracked rail on the line rising from 26% to 58% when the sections are built 6.

Money and dates are still in motion. The Federal Transit Administration let the project into the Engineering phase of its Capital Investment Grants program on Aug. 7, 2026, moving it closer to nearly $1.3 billion in federal funding, and UDOT's release that day put construction at 2027 through 2030, subject to completing the federal grant process 7. The project's own FAQ gives a different corridor-wide window — construction expected to begin as early as late 2026 and substantially complete in 2029, with the schedule dependent on federal grants 4. The current work in Draper and Bluffdale is consistent with the earlier end of that range: the program is in the 2024-2029 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program under PIN 20253, and crews are already at work on the canal 32.

Work in the neighborhood continues past the concrete. The canal job east of Royal Coachman Drive is scheduled through spring 2027 2, and the concrete pours run through mid-February 2027 1. Project questions go to the FrontRunner 2X team at 888-882-0373 or FrontRunner2X@utah.gov, and current notices are posted at frontrunner2x.utah.gov 41.