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Kimball Junction transit center project rolling along

Summit County’s long-awaited second transit center, slated for the west side of State Road 224 at Kimball Junction, is now one approval away from becoming a reality.

The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission plans to hold a hearing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, at the Sheldon Richins Building to discuss the Planning Department’s permit request to construct the Kimball Junction transit center. The item is set for a public hearing and possible approval.

Derrick Radke, Summit County Public Works director, said the project is in the final design stage. If the permit is granted, he said construction could start as early as September and be finished around the first of the year.

"Since it didn’t get built last summer it was extended and now we have to go back to the Planning Commission. But it’s still the same project," Radke said. "It will be a huge addition to our system and will make everything more convenient and, hopefully, everything will operate more efficiently."

The Basin Planning Commission approved a permit for the transit center previously in 2012 even though the funding wasn’t secured. Two extensions have been granted since then.

The Federal Transit Administration awarded Park City Transit a $1.7 million grant last year for the estimated $2.4 million project. Summit County contributed $500,000 and Park City Transit provided $95,000, leaving an approximate $105,000 deficit.

Now, Radke said the proposal is to build the transit center in two phases. He said the County Council will be asked to contribute the additional funding during the next budget cycle.

The first phase of construction this fall "would be everything that would be required to make it work as a transit center," Radke said.

The transit center is proposed for a three-acre lot between the Sheldon Richins Building and the Ute Blvd/Landmark Drive intersection. The plan calls for spaces for up to 10 buses, a 2,500-square-foot transit building and approximately 20 park-and-ride spaces.

The public plaza, parking and landscaping would be added during the second phase sometime next year, Radke said.

Destry Pollard, operations manager at Park City Transit, said a second transit center at Kimball Junction could be the first step toward expanding services for the transit system throughout the county.

"There were some plans to expand services between the west and east side of the county and there has been a lot of discussion about more express services between Kimball Junction and Park City, but in order to do that we need the transit center," he said.

As part of an upcoming transportation study, Pollard said Park City will study the impact an additional transit center will have on Park City Transit’s route schedules and whether there will be a need for additional buses and drivers.

"It will explore all those possibilities and take a look at what the feasibility of that is," Pollard said.

Summit County


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