Local governments have plans that may change how cars, pedestrians and bikes traverse the east side of Quinn’s Junction too.
Summit County is scheduled to move the Old Highway 40 frontage road farther east this fall. And the new frontage road is where Salt Lake City-based gas and convenience store chain Maverik, Inc., is proposing a new location.
If the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission approves the Maverik, Richard Piggott, the company’s senior entitlement manager, said they’ll install a traffic light.
“That will allow you to have an actual stop signal that will allow traffic, pedestrians and people on bikes, to cross the road a little bit more safely than it is now,” he told planning commissioners Aug. 13.
Summit County engineer Mike Kendell confirmed Maverik’s traffic study shows a signal would be warranted, since the gas station will attract vehicles.
Before approving the company’s proposal, Basin planners want Maverik to look at the amount of pedestrian and bike traffic in the area.
Commissioners Thomas Cooke and Makena Hawley point out that the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail would run right behind the Maverik.
“Somewhere in the staff report, it indicated that you were going to be contributing on a sidewalk,” Cooke said to Piggott. “Could that be a paved, multimodal path that provides a little extra security for cyclists who are just riding by or hopefully into your parking lot?”
The commissioners voted to push the Maverik decision, so the company has more time to consider pedestrian and bike trail connections.
They’re hopeful the rail trail crossing, a crosswalk with flashing lights, will see some safety improvements too, though that’s not within Maverik’s purview.
Park City Muncipal’s rail trail master plan recommends building an overpass across state Route 248 some time this decade. It notes the speed limit is 55 mph, “which is likely to cause death or serious injuries to trail users if they were to be hit by oncoming traffic.”
The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission will reconsider the new Maverik Sept. 10.
