Easing traffic in Park City

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to navigate our little town of Park City and regardless of the season, traffic keeps on getting denser. A few examples. We’ve live in Park Meadows for more than 40 years and even during its busiest building period. Would I even suggest how this growing problem could cause havoc in the event of an emergency evacuation? 

Now that the town is built out, remodeling and tear-down projects seems to bring many more workers cars on site, almost always one person in one car, creating a real traffic and parking nightmare. Between these vehicles and those of landscapers or other trades pulling enormously wide and long trailers, locals have to slalom through cars parked on either sides of the streets and there appear no way this trend is going down.

Just look at the above picture... So the issue is that it’s time to stop that trend and begin seriously controlling who gets into town. What I’m proposing is a bunch of ideas that our City should be considering and seriously discussing. Here are a few of them as mixed sampling: Just a steadily growing and concerning vehicle traffic on SR 224 and 248. 

Why? Too many workers (one per car) insisting on coming right to their place of work in the own car. Make people (except those living in PC school district to enter Park City) via electronic (RFID) tags. The entry fee could be adjusted dynamically and be free between 6pm and 6am. Visitor who rent cars are the airport would get temporary tags that Rental Companies would pay for during the stay. 

Parking lots and bus service at Park and Ride areas at the entrance to the City or PC School District A limited number of vehicles should be permitted to park near a project (maintenance, remodeling, tear down and reconstruction). Passed that, standing vehicles would be fined. Workers coming outside of say, the Park City School District (PC addresses) or perhaps Summit County should carpool at the entrances to the main activity centers (i.e. Kimball Junction and Queen Junction or at some additional “Park and Ride” areas). 

In our City subdivisions, all vehicles should be parked on one side of the street using even and odd house numbers to match the daily date. That would eliminate having to dodge cars as we literally have to slalom through them. There maybe many a multitude of extra ideas, but the above ones should be seriously explored, discussed and decided upon before total gridlock is reached.