After new traffic protocols brought congestion and confusion on the roads last weekend, Saturday was less hectic.
That’s according to people like Park City resident Rina Slade, who usually rides the bus but wanted to take her new van to tailgate at lunchtime. She had no complaints after joining a line of cars during the rush around 8:15 a.m., then getting a spot in the First Time lot.
“It was fine,” Slade said. “You know, it does back up on Park Avenue, right there by the Fresh Market, but it’s pretty smooth. I think what they’ve done here now with the cones, especially on Empire Avenue, seems to be going pretty good.”
Park City government and Park City Mountain Resort are using new parking and traffic flow procedures along with more shuttles.
Employees and signs directed one-way traffic on Lowell Avenue on Saturday, with a focus on the heavy traffic period ahead of first chairs at 9 a.m.
Park City Mountain traffic and parking lot employees said the system worked to keep cars flowing as designed.
David Frechette from Charlotte, North Carolina agreed. He and his family parked around 7:45 in the morning to get a spot.
“We were fairly continuous,” he said. “I think we might have stopped once or twice on the way in. It was pretty effortless, though, for our experience.”
Frechette said the parking experience Saturday morning was decent overall, compared to other resorts where he’s parked and another time he came to Park City. He said he appreciated that it was free to park.
Zach Beck from Salt Lake City said he hasn’t been pleased with resort parking recently. He said Saturday was no exception.
“We’re coming here about an hour early every time we come up here, and it’s still a mess to get here,” said Zach Beck from Salt Lake City Roads, who said he snowboards Park City Mountain most weekends. “We get blocked all the way to about Squatter’s or Hotel Park City. With the city putting in these things, it just makes it a lot harder, and ever since they started this, it hasn’t gotten better.”
He said the system might work better if people become more aware of how it works, or if more entry points to parking lots open.
Chelsea Ruebling and friends were in town from the New York City and Boston areas. They also vacationed in Park City last President’s Day. She said it was much easier to drive to the resort this year.
“This year, there’s a lot less traffic,” Ruebling said. “It seems to be a lot less cars on the road, and the mountain’s a little bit more open.”
But, she also said during her trip last year, there was a lot more snow on the mountain to enjoy. She encouraged everyone to focus on snowfall.
“Let’s everyone wear their pajamas inside-out and pray for some snow,” she said.
The resort and city ask people to follow @pcmtnalert on Twitter and the city’s various social media accounts for current parking and traffic information on their way to the resort.
