Main Street would like parking in the China Bridge garage to be free for the spring and part of the summer.

But City Hall has some doubts about that idea.

The two sides are preparing for a discussion on Thursday expected to cover parking as well as a significant waterworks project planned along Main Street this year. City Hall and the Historic Park City Alliance, which represents the interests of businesses in the Main Street core, regularly address a range of issues related to the shopping, dining and entertainment strip. The upcoming talks, though, could draw wider interest since they involve the normally disparate topics of parking and the waterworks system.

The executive director of the Historic Park City Alliance, Ginger Wicks, in early February drafted a correspondence to the municipal government addressing the two issues and asking the Park City Council to consider not charging for parking in the China Bridge garage from April until the end of the waterworks project.

She said the work “will be extremely disruptive to Main Street businesses.” The Main Street businesses traditionally have concerns about parking reductions and access when consequential municipal projects are pursued on or just off the street, such as the waterworks project planned this year.

“With the spring season already being a slower time of year, compounded with a high-impact construction project, working together we can ensure we are doing what we can to attract locals and visitors to Main Street during this time,” the one-page correspondence says.

It also suggests the Main Street trolley remains in operation while the work is underway, even if the route may need adjustment.

The China Bridge garage, located on Swede Alley, provides a large number of parking spots one block off Main Street. It is one of the most convenient options for people driving to Main Street.

A City Hall report drafted in anticipation of the City Council meeting scheduled on Thursday describes the waterworks project as involving a water main. The impacts are expected to involve the stretch of Main Street between the Heber Avenue and 5^th Street intersections. The timeline runs from April 1 to July 1. The work will impact 30 parking spots that according to the report, “will be easily absorbed in the China Bridge Garage, where there is sufficient capacity, except on Park Silly Market Sundays.”

The April 1-July 1 schedule covers the April and May shoulder season, when business on Main Street is the slowest of the year. But it also includes June, when crowds oftentimes pick up, depending on weather.

“Parking Services recommends maintaining the paid parking program through the spring, summer, and fall seasons, including during the water project,” according to the report. “Based on the collected data from the fall parking holiday, Parking Services does not recommend the free parking holiday.”

Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council are scheduled to discuss the plans for paid parking during a meeting on Thursday starting at 3:45 p.m. at the Marsac Building. The talk about paid parking is slated to start at 4:45 p.m. and last 30 minutes. More information is available on the City Hall website, http://www.parkcity.org. The direct link to the meeting agenda and materials is: https://parkcityut.portal.civicclerk.com/event/225/overview.