The Mid Mountain Trailhead, between the Montage hotel and Bonanza Flat, is currently closed due to ongoing construction.
Plans for an upgrade initially involved expanding the parking from 15 spots to 29. But under a revised plan approved by the Park City Planning Commission Sept. 10, there will instead be 23 parking spaces to make room for a new pull-in bus stop.
Logan Jones in Park City Municipal’s engineering department said that would allow for the city’s purple bus route to service the area.
“The purple line would then be able to serve this trailhead and bring far more people to this recreational amenity and recreational space than 29 stalls ever could,” Jones said.
Park City extended service of the purple line to Bonanza Flat for the first time this summer. That was an effort to decrease traffic congestion in the popular recreation area. But it also offered an alternative to the addition of paid parking at Bonanza Flat trailheads.
Jones said the purple bus has been heavily utilized by hikers and mountain bikers this summer.
“The purple line with the trail service is one summer bus line that actually has something that looks more like winter numbers on it,” he said. “I think that just speaks to that if you design the bus routes to service the recreational needs of our recreational town, people will ride the bus. And that’s exactly what we intend to do here with this service.”
With the new improvements, the purple line could be used to service the Mid Mountain Trailhead during the winter months. Jones said a separate shuttle could connect visitors up to the groomed trails in Bonanza Flat by using Twisted Branch Road.
There is not a set timeline for when service to the trailhead could begin, he told KPCW.
The Mid Mountain Trailhead is scheduled to be closed until Oct. 1 as construction continues.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
