The Park City Planning Commission has recommended the adoption of a long-term transportation plan that would focus on decreasing the amount of traffic in the community and providing non-driving ways for people to get around when they are in town.
Planning Commissioners recently voted unanimously in support of Park City Forward, a 30-year plan that would supplement the city’s General Plan. The plan was forwarded to the Park City Council with a positive recommendation for consideration at a Sept. 15 meeting.
The blueprint of projects would be implemented in phases through 2050. The plan, which lists 84 transportation initiatives, calls for collaborating with regional partners on some of the long-range efforts.
“This plan is not a plan that’s going to sit on the shelf,” Julia Collins, Park City transportation planning manager, said. “We’ve been very thoughtful on how this could be complementary to the General Plan. It establishes the goals and principles that the city wants to pursue for the short term and the long term.”
The plan lists priorities identified in public outreach efforts and funds would be allocated for those projects, Collins said.
The priorities include highway improvement projects, new park-and-ride facilities, the expansion of high-frequency transit service, updated parking pricing, commute incentive programs, improvements to Main Street and Old Town and a sidewalk network designed to make walking the default choice for short trips in Park City.
Alex Roy, Park City senior transportation planner, noted the city has developed an overall guiding principle of “park once.” Drivers are encouraged to park upon arrival at their destination and to use non-driving modes, such as public transportation, to get to other places in the city.
“We heard loud and clear from the Planning Commission that biking and walking is critical to the nature of the community so we want to expand our world-class biking and walking infrastructure and then proactively review and analyze disruptive transportation ideas and innovations,” Roy said.
He said the plan is designed to serve all types of people who travel to and within Park City – residents; year-round employees and business owners; culture and event visitors; recreation day trippers; seasonal employees; and long-stay visitors and vacation homeowners.
The plan recommendation was approved with one amendment proposed by Planning Commissioner John Kenworthy that adds developing transportation systems within Park City limits as a guiding principle.
Kenworthy said he would like Park City to have a collection zone where buses and shuttles would pick up and drop off passengers, which would help increase the average vehicle occupancy, or AVO. The city would have control over the zone and could make it a priority, unlike a project outside of municipal limits, such as highway improvements or remote parking lots in other jurisdictions, which are out of its control, he said.
“I want that collection area,” Kenworthy said. “I want it because we’re going to then have a chance of having higher AVOs from inside the city.”
The plan estimates the costs for the projects would total $722.33 million and the funding gap would be $385.86 million. Money could come from federal grants, state grants, county contributions, a local transportation fund and a local city fund.
Work on Park City Forward began in 2018. Planning Department staffers developed the plan with the help of a technical advisory committee that included representatives from resorts, the Park City Chamber/Bureau, Historic Park City Alliance, Summit County, Park City School District, Utah Department of Transportation, Ski Utah and High Valley Transit. Other local businesses, employees and residents also participated.