Last week, Alfred Knotts, Transportation Manager for Park City Municipal and Carline Rodriguez, Regional Transportation Planning Director for Summit County, provided an update to the Park City Board of REALTORS about Park City public transit initiatives that will impact all of us who live, work and visit the Park City area.
Since many residents see traffic as a quality of life issue, I am personally pleased to see that our local government officials are attempting to get ahead of problems and are working on some innovative, out of the box, and downright sexy initiatives. Here are a few I wanted to share:
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- Electric buses — These buses are running from 7am to 10pm daily. They stop at the Old Town Transit Center, A Fresh Market (right next door to my office!), Canyons and the new Kimball Junction Transit Center (behind the Summit County Library). Eighty percent of the cost of these buses were funded with a federal grant. The other twenty percent came from the transit tax that was passed last year. They are averaging over 1,000 riders a day already! Find the schedule here. On July 3rd, after the X-Ambassadors concert at Deer Valley, my friend and I hopped on a bus to the Old Town Transit Center. We waited less than 5 minutes for the Electric Express and were at Kimball Junction in record time. What a great alternative to being stuck in the Deer Valley Parking lot after a concert.
- Extra parking at the Kimball Junction transit center to facilitate “parking and riding” into town.
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- Plans for another park and ride lot near Ecker Hill Middle School. UDOT approved the Jeremy Ranch exit expansion to accommodate additional traffic created by the Park and Ride lot. The idea is to keep as many cars as possible outside of Kimball Junction and Park City.
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- Kamas Commuter bus — This bus currently runs 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening, with stops in Kamas, Deer Mountain, Park City Medical Center, People’s Clinic, High School, Park Avenue Condos, and the Old Town Transit Center. The county is working on adding a stop at Black Rock Ridge, but they haven’t settled on a safe pull out location yet. They are also working on a “safe ride home” for people who might miss the last bus. The county would reimburse participants for a “private ride”. This hasn’t been worked out yet. What a great idea to get cars off of the Highway 248 Corridor! Find the schedule here.
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- Salt Lake City Commuter bus. A midday route has been added. This bus goes to Salt Lake City. Riders can transfer to the TRAX train to access the Salt Lake International Airport. A direct public transportation system from the airport to Park City is not planned for the immediate future. Find the schedule here.
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- Electric bike sharing. Locations at Newpark, Kimball Junction Transit Center, the new Whole Foods, Canyons, Fresh Market on Park Ave, Park City Public Library, Prospector Square and Old Town. Kick off is July 19th! With 88 bikes! You can sign up online for an account at summitbikeshare.com. An app is coming soon. The cost for unlimited access is $90/year. Each ride is 90 minutes, but you can use the pass for consecutive 90 minute rides.
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- One of the goals of Park City and Summit County’s Transit program is to get everyone on the same technology. They are working with developers on transportation mitigation as part of the planning process.
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- Construction of transit only/carpool lanes along SR-248 and provide access to Richardson Flat park and ride lot. [Note this project is slated for next year. The current construction on SR-248 is related to plumbing.]
- Construct transit priority lanes along SR-224 from Kimball Junction to Empire Ave/Deer Valley Drive. This is slated for 2019.
For more information, visit www.letsgosummit.com.