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Park City creates drop-and-load zones along Main Street, fighting congestion

Park Record file photo.
Tanzi Propst/Park Record

There will be certain parking spots along Main Street that will be set aside starting later in 2019 for vehicles holding a City Hall permit.

And even then, a permit holder will not be allowed to remain for extended periods.

The Park City Council at a recent meeting approved a series of so-called drop-and-load zones along Main Street that will require a permit from the municipal government. The zones were created as part of City Hall’s wide-ranging discussions about traffic and transportation, and the talks about drop-and-load zones were centered on the Main Street core. There have been mounting concerns about traffic on Main Street and the congestion spilling onto nearby streets, including ones that are residential in nature.



Officials see the drop-and-load zones as measures to reduce the amount of congestion and improve the safety of the Main Street core.

The drop-and-load zones will require a permit after 5 p.m. during a pilot program that will stretch from December until March. Vehicles must be actively dropping people off or picking them up in the zones. The spots will be restricted to 15-minute parking for anyone prior to 5 p.m.



The permits are priced at $200 annually. They are available to anyone, but it is expected the transportation and lodging industries will be especially interested. They will likely want to hold the permits in order to have access to the well-placed parking spots that are a part of the program, making it more convenient to drop off and pick up clients.

The locations are:

• outside the Wasatch Brew Pub

• outside the Chimayo restaurant

• outside the Main Street post office

• outside the Park City Museum

• in the vicinity of the 7th Street intersection

• outside Courchevel Bistro

• outside Grappa restaurant

• outside 350 Main and the Spur Bar & Grill

• outside Flanagan’s on Main

• at the location of a walkway between Main Street and Swede Alley known for a bronze sculpture of a bear

The vehicles with permits will also be allowed to stage outside the post office and outside 350 Main and the Spur Bar & Grill.

As part of the overall package, the elected officials also created a drop-and-load zone available to anyone, without charge, at the Bob Wells Plaza on Swede Alley. Free drop-and-load zones and staging zones were created on 9th Street toward the northern end of Main Street, in a small portion of the spots in the Brew Pub lot and the parallel spots on Swede Alley outside the KPCW radio studio.

The elected officials want the Park City Police Department to provide a high level of enforcement as the program is launched.

The recent meeting was held after earlier talks regarding drop-and-load zones and the broader issues in the Main Street core. A City Hall report drafted in anticipation of the recent meeting noted discussions continued with the public, businesspeople and municipal staffers.

“While there remains unease, the majority are supportive of proposed changes, with continued communication and evaluation, including increased enforcement to help improve safety and reduce congestion,” the report says.

The City Council in October held a meeting about the topic as well, receiving a range of comments about the locations of the zones and the effects of a program like the one approved.

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