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Main Street Considers No-Car Sundays

Park City Municipal

 
 
 
In mid-March the COVID-19 pandemic hit area businesses abruptly with shut-downs ordered overnight. Now, with the lifting of some restrictions, the Historic Park City Alliance is exploring new business models to restore commerce and bring people back to shopping and dining in Park City’s historic district.

The Historic Park City Alliance, HPCA recently conducted a survey asking Main Street businesses for input on closing the street to motor vehicles on a trial basis. The survey closed Monday and 70 % favors trying it one day a week beginning this summer. A straw poll was sent to about 250 businesses and they received a little more than 60 responses. the results favored closing Sundays from 11 to 5. HPCA Executive Director Allison Kuhlow says a workgroup representing the major sectors of Main Street businesses got together to consider options.

“Main Street wasn’t broken before the virus or the pandemic hit. Main Street was generating over $300 million in sales in last year’s summer season.”

They’re looking at no car Sundays from 11 to 5 only. She says deliveries occur on Main Street until 11 AM.  Some businesses located on the west side of the street can’t get alley way deliveries nor can they do a curb side service.  Kuhlow says the curbside revenue is important to the eateries on Main Street.

Without vehicle traffic, Kuhlow hopes businesses and restaurants can expand deeper on to the sidewalk or into the street.

“If we’re allowed to use the whole sidewalk, do we then have to have ramps up and down each curb between each business? Or can that be done differently? Can the city help us with the DABC looking at liquor law extensions into the street?

She says it costs tens of thousands of dollars to build a Main Street dining deck. They’d like to try to expand table and alcohol service into the street without it being cost prohibitive.

“By asking a restaurant to do that just so they can have alcohol service is a huge ask, especially when we don’t want businesses to spend extra money.  So, is there a way that the DABC would allow alcohol on the street if a business wanted to go out and just put tables out on that one day, in the parallel parking spaces. Would they be allowed if they had the proper fencing and what not?

Kuhlow wants to try to set up the first car-free Sunday by mid-June. She says they don’t want to push traffic into the surrounding neighborhoods.

“There’s quite a lot of detail that needs to go into everything. Because essentially once you drive up Swede Alley, and if Main Street was closed, there are two options to be able to get out of Old Town, using Hillside Avenue or Park Avenue.

And that’s one thing we want to stop and so we are proposing a turn-around in the Brew Pub lot. 
Kuhlow says Trolley Service could still be provided on Swede Alley with turnarounds on the top and bottom of Main Street. If the trial proves successful, she says they would consider extending or expanding no car days on Main Street.
 
The HPCA Board meets Tuesday at 8:30 AM in a Zoom meeting.
Meeting ID: 817 6632 0194
Password: 523766 
 
 
 
 
   
 

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