The public can give input on the Rail Trail Corridor Plan at the meeting Tuesday.
County Planner Madlyn McDonough has been working on the study for about two years in collaboration with the University of Utah, Utah State Parks, Basin Recreation, North Summit High School, Park City Centers for Advanced Professional Studies, the Summit County Arts Council and other volunteers from around the county.
The rail trail plan provides data on how the public uses the trail, identifies where infrastructure may be deteriorating and discusses options for future maintenance and improvement.
The purpose is to guide future decision-making. As County Development Director Pat Putt noted, the rail trail plan is a study, not a development plan.
As such, it won’t be up for approval by the county council or planning commissions in the same way a neighborhood plan would be.
“This is a unique document, it's not formally part of our general plan. It's not part of a development code,” Putt said. “It's a standalone document. Therefore, they’re not approving something.”
Planning staff want input from the planning commission Tuesday before presenting the final version to the Summit County Council.
This is the second of two sessions where the public can give input before the rail trail plan is finalized. The first was at the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission last Thursday.
Putt said county planners would like to get the rail trail study to the county council in May for consideration and adoption.
The study is 91 pages, spanning the rail trail’s past, present and future.
It maps out areas ripe for improvement, including dangerous road crossings at State Route 248 and Promontory Ranch Road.
In a community survey with almost 500 responses, 71% said they use the trail for biking. 51% said they use it for walking or hiking and 23% said they use it for running or jogging.
The report gives special attention to the issue of e-bikes, especially concerns about speed. Pedal-assist bikes with a speed limit of 20 miles per hour are currently allowed.
The study says e-bikes must conform to normal bicycle etiquette: maintain safe speeds, keep right, pass left—sound off when you do—and yield to other users.
Right now, Utah State Parks owns and manages the trail, but the staff report says it seems the state would like Summit County to take it over.
The plan presents scenarios where the county owns or manages all or some of the trail.
Currently, Park City maintains sections of the trail within municipal limits, and the plan says it makes sense for that to continue.
The county’s own polling suggests a majority of people want Summit County to manage the trail, so much of the implementation section expands on what that would look like.
“Anybody who's listening in right now, that cares about the rail trail, that uses the rail trail, please go to our website, download the document, review it and come and give us your thoughts,” Putt said.
The planning commission meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Sheldon Richins Building at Kimball Junction, and on Zoom.
