Park City established a committee earlier this year to evaluate potential transformative transportation ideas, regardless of cost or scope.
That committee is now making recommendations to the city council about what solutions should be the highest priority. The top of the list includes a transit service from the Salt Lake City International Airport, an aerial gondola, and a tunnel system.
Deputy city manager Sarah Pearce said the committee prioritized bigger projects because they anticipate those will have the largest ability to reduce traffic.
“Which is why you’ll see the vehicle-free restricted zones lower priority,” Pearce said. “It doesn’t mean they don’t think that’s a viable thing to do and to pursue, but it didn’t check the box of traffic mitigation, which is really what they were after. And so on these larger ones, they are the most expensive, but this might be a place where we could get federal funding or if the solution is viable for our future, perhaps the Olympics could be a catalyst if we end up hosting those again.”
Pearce said the city has had discussions with Elon Musk’s Boring Company, which is building an underground tunnel network in Las Vegas.
The committee also recommended working with regional partners on dedicated public transit lanes and passenger rail. City staff is asking for the council’s opinions before drafting a final report.
Related, the council is being briefed on the transportation plan for the Sundance Film Festival in late January. The biggest change is next year Main Street and Swede Alley will be open to two-way traffic. The city is evaluating the potential of a car-free Main Street during Sundance, but it won’t happen this year Pearce said.
“Mainly because Sundance has brand new leadership and brand new leadership on the operations side,” she said. “It’s really important that they see the festival through and we can stand on the street during that busy weekend and say, ‘OK these are all the factors we have to consider.’ It’ll be a great opportunity for us to really explore it during the festival this year and then continue to talk about it next year.”
On Thursday there will also be a discussion about the city’s child care scholarship program, which was allocated $1 million during the budget process. The city council has to finalize the program requirements before the city begins sending out tuition stipends.
The council could also approve over a dozen special service contracts for local nonprofits.
The full meeting agenda and a link to attend virtually can be found here.
