Stadium Sites Narrowed

[SoccerPrime]

We haven't discussed it yet but besides Fairpark, Murray seems to be out of the running too now.

However the Mayor of Murray certainly doesn't think he is out of it:

As for Murray, Checketts said, "Frankly, we haven't heard much from Murray. They haven't been as aggressive as Salt Lake City and Sandy have been."
Murray Mayor Dan Snarr said he didn't know his city was out of the running. He called the decision "shortsighted."
He said the Murray site, at 4400 South near a light-rail stop, has the "five golden threes." The stadium would be less than three minutes from Interstate 15 ramps; it would be near three freeways; it would be three minutes from a TRAX stop and a light-rail transfer point; and it would take less than three minutes to transfer an injured player to Murray's new IHC medical campus.
But Murray wouldn't be willing to pay for land for the team, Snarr said. The private owner is willing to sell 15 acres for $3 million, he noted, and the city would clean up the contaminated soil.
"I don't have freebies, but we sure have the best location," Snarr said. "I'm going to call Dave [Checketts] right now."

[Aerick]

Traffic on Saturday evenings is usually going TOWARDS downtown versus away from it, so you'd hit the same traffic you'd normally hit coming from the North, UNTIL you passed downtown, and then it likely would lessen - even with stadium traffic. Granted, if it were built in downtown, it would take less time for northerners, but if you are currently going to RES for games, a Sandy stadium wouldn't likely increase the amount of travel time. Therefore, if it's built in Sandy:

Northerners net travel time change: 0 minutes
Southerners net travel time change: -20 minutes

If downtown:

Northerner net travel change: -10 minutes
Southerner net travel change: -10 minutes

[neophyte]

Originally Posted by montgjules

There will be traffic anywhere the stadium is built. That's not unique to Sandy.

Downtown traffic does have a lot of alternate, parallel streets to flow through, however, which lets crowds dissipate much quicker. When there is anything at South Town Expo Ctr, the traffic back up for blocks in every direction, because there's only one way to get there. So it's true that time from I-15 at 6th South up to RES is longer than time on I-15 from 6th to 90th south, the ten blocks down to Jordan Commons can take another 15 minutes sometimes.

[SoccerAddict]

I think it's kinda funny that people would let an extra 15 minutes on the drive determine if they attend a game or not. I'm already driving 5+ hours from Boise for the games, so no whining from you locals! 😉

[Jim Umber]

Originally Posted by SoccerAddict

I think it's kinda funny that people would let an extra 15 minutes on the drive determine if they attend a game or not. I'm already driving 5+ hours from Boise for the games, so no whining from you locals! 😉

You tell'em, soccerAddict. That pretty well settles their hash! I live in spanish Fork, but I'm not complaining anymore!

Originally Posted by the_cup

From the article, this has to be the biggest change of plans...

Whoa. Hasn't Checketts always said he was putting up 30 million and was asking for the public to put up the rest?

This should make it easier though to get the stadium Downtown if all they have to do is come up with money for land instead of another 35 million to pay for half of the stadium.

Actually, though that has been mentioned, It was never a part of the actual proposal. That part was to come afterwards and be financed by the County, rather than the City. And I really think they were just getting the idea out there to see how it would fly. The site negotiations have only ever been about the land.

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

However the Mayor of Murray certainly doesn't think he is out of it:

As for Murray, Checketts said, "Frankly, we haven't heard much from Murray. They haven't been as aggressive as Salt Lake City and Sandy have been."
Murray Mayor Dan Snarr said he didn't know his city was out of the running. He called the decision "shortsighted."
He said the Murray site, at 4400 South near a light-rail stop, has the "five golden threes." The stadium would be less than three minutes from Interstate 15 ramps; it would be near three freeways; it would be three minutes from a TRAX stop and a light-rail transfer point; and it would take less than three minutes to transfer an injured player to Murray's new IHC medical campus.
But Murray wouldn't be willing to pay for land for the team, Snarr said. The private owner is willing to sell 15 acres for $3 million, he noted, and the city would clean up the contaminated soil.
"I don't have freebies, but we sure have the best location," Snarr said. "I'm going to call Dave [Checketts] right now."

Actually, I think That offer is better than the others, even though they aren't offering to pay for the land. It's 15 acres for $3 million. Compared to the overall cost of the stadium, that's a drop in the bucket. Also, this is for 15 acres, and the proposals I've heard of previously have been for 10 acres. Also, Murray is almost downtown, whereas Sandy is waaaaaay south.

On the other hand, keep in mind that ANYTHING said publicly, at this point, may well be posturing, strategy, or in other words part of the negotiations.

For instance, the Murray mayor said, "I'm going to call Dave [Checketts] right now." [and possibly sweeten the deal]

You have to consider that that may be all Dave was after. We don't know what's in his mind. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Anything stated publicly will get back to all the various contenders, so you have to consider that these statements are actually part of the negotiations.

[SoccerPrime]

Interesting opinion:
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3016061

[Rover]

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

Interesting opinion:
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3016061

Tough to be the loser in this fight, but Salt Lake City has only itself to blame if the the stadium ends up in Sandy. It's silly to blame political maneuvering. They might as well blame the weather. Sandy's got the smarter politicians, and they've used that to their advantage. Looks to me like RSL fans win either way.

[soccerman]

OK I've had enough.
It's been fun to guess and argue and hope, but for the love of all that's decent and right. . . .

****************************************************
* PICK A SITE AND START BUILDING THE STUPID STADIUM!!!!!!!!!!!! *
****************************************************

Thank you.

[Jim Umber]

Originally Posted by soccerman

OK I've had enough.
It's been fun to guess and argue and hope, but for the love of all that's decent and right. . . .

****************************************************
* PICK A SITE AND START BUILDING THE STUPID STADIUM!!!!!!!!!!!! *
****************************************************

Thank you.

Or in the words of a popular movie of a few years ago. "Build it, and they'll come."

[Section 37]

But don't we want to give our team every possible advantage?

I think we owe ourselves at least that much.