Park City has paid UDOT $1.6 million for an Environmental Assessment to study traffic concerns on SR 248. It’s taken place over the past 28 months and the agency is looking to receive public input on the draft proposal. The 30-day public comment period is ending Thursday at midnight.
The study encompassed a three-mile corridor from US-40 to Park Avenue/SR 224. Park City requested and paid for the study because they wanted to address traffic congestion on the entry corridor. The National Environmental Policy Act is a federal law requiring an environmental assessment take place on any roadway improvements that would be federally funded. The preferred option recommended by UDOT is expected to cost approximately $60 million. UDOT has $10 million reserved to begin phasing a road project on SR 248 but additional funding is not yet assigned.
Those attending the public forum held June 26th indicated little support for the proposed option which would expand the width of the road to five traffic lanes running the length of the study area. Currently the section of road narrows to two lanes just east of the school campus. It’s been criticized as a choke point for commuters. UDOT did not make public transit recommendations in the draft proposal.
Park City Transportation Director Alfred Knotts says he expects to hear from several hundred people by the time public comment closes on Thursday. The decision to proceed with the preferred alternative or to do nothing will be made by UDOT with input from Park City staff and officials.
“We’ll go through the whole process with our UDOT partners and luckily we did do this project together and you know the state has been a great partner through the whole process and what we’ll do is we will take those comments into consideration."
UDOT’s Project Manager Brian Allen says the project approval is considered based on the best use for the region and they will include input from Park City residents. Allen says they will publish all public comments with their final decision which is expected in September or October.
Knotts is confident in the study process. The executive summary provides a synopsis of the 1400-page draft Environmental Assessment document. He says the cost of doing nothing is also found in the document.
“But there’s a very, very concise executive summary. Chapter two and chapter 3 are really the meat and potatoes of the document that lays out the alternatives evaluated, considered and rejected and it lays out what environmental impacts are associated with each alternative.”
Knotts says UDOT’S process has met the City’s requirements of the study and now the public is being asked if UDOT’s preferred proposal is an appropriate solution to meet the short and long-term needs of the community.
“We arrived at a solution, that again, meets the purpose and need of the project. If the community has other thoughts and considerations, and of course our council and our community and our business partners are very, very critical stakeholders and that’s really what this 30-day comment period is.”
Comments can be made with UDOT: https://www.udot.utah.gov/SR248improved/
or email: alfred.knotts@parkcity.org
