High Valley Transit Chief Development Officer Gabe Shields said staging work this fall will have a limited impact on drivers, with all travel lanes remaining open during work hours.
The bus rapid transit, or BRT, project involves widening state Route 224 by about 10 feet to add dedicated bus lanes on each side of the road that travels between Park City proper and Kimball Junction.
Shields said the goal is to complete most of the construction by the end of 2027. The Summit County agency is required by a federal contract to be fully operational by September 2028.
High Valley Transit plans to finalize the project’s design near the end of this year, which will determine the exact construction timeline.
They are moving forward in collaboration with Summit County and the Utah Department of Transportation, which owns S.R. 224. The plan to widen the road hasn’t changed despite opposition from Park City council members, who have said the road widening isn’t necessary in city limits, which begin at the McPolin Barn.
Council members have said the road widening would harm the quality of life for residents and could pose a serious risk for wildlife, which have repeatedly been killed in vehicle collisions on S.R. 224.
Existing traffic data shows that the most significant congestion on S.R. 224 occurs between Canyons Village and Kimball Junction, outside of Park City.
Shields argues the project as currently designed will offer numerous benefits, such as providing more reliable travel for workers and reducing Park City’s dependency on personal vehicles.
“This is about creating a culture around transit where we can grow into the future without widening our roads for cars,” Shields said. “It’s sustainable, and it also allows the kinds of things that we have in this community to continue. There’s so much of this community that relies on labor from outside the heart of Park City or even Summit County.”
Despite cost-cutting efforts at the national level, Shields said High Valley Transit is confident they will retain the $25 million in federal transportation grants they have already received for the project.
The latest cost estimate for the project in December was roughly $90 million. At this time, it’s unclear if Park City government will be asked to contribute financially.
