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Park City readies thousands of sandbags, pre-positions heavy machinery as spring runoff begins

Officials are monitoring locations along waterways with the extraordinary snowpack starting to melt

The Park City Public Works Department on Monday continued to ready sandbags for the spring runoff after the snowy winter. The department says 3,074 sandbags had been picked up in the seven days that ended Monday morning.
Jay Hamburger/Park Record

Skiers and snowboarders are enjoying the late-season snow, but, as temperatures rise and days lengthen, Park City officials are readying for the possibility of flooding during the runoff.

The municipal government at some level prepares for the runoff season each year, but the concern across the region is heightened in 2023 with the extraordinary snowpack that collected in the higher elevations during the winter.

There are two waterways inside Park City that are of note during the runoff season — one commonly called Poison Creek and the other being McLeod Creek. Poison Creek runs out of the mountains south of Old Town, through the edge of the neighborhood and eventually out of Park City near Prospector. McLeod Creek flows out of Park City on a route that roughly parallels Park Avenue and S.R. 224.



The Park City Public Works Department is monitoring the waterways. There are 27 locations that are checked each day. The department intends to increase the frequency to three times per day as the snowmelt reaches its peak, likely late in the spring. Some of the locations include in the vicinity of the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Iron Horse Drive, the southern end of Daly Avenue and a ditch along Kearns Boulevard in the area of the intersection with Wyatt Earp Way.

Troy Dayley, the public works director, on Monday said the department had not started to pre-position sandbags in locations at risk of flooding. The department by then, though, had moved heavy machinery into place in locations like the southern end of Daly Avenue. Pre-positioning the heavy machinery is designed to save time in removing debris from grates that could lead to a stream blockage if left unattended as well as be available in the event of an emergency.



“We’ve got you covered. We’ve got the tools in place . . . The staff in place,” Dayley said.

The Public Works Department, meanwhile, is also distributing sandbags. The department reported 3,074 sandbags had been picked upin the seven-day period that ended Monday morning. It had received 284 phone calls requesting sandbags and another 94 online requests. Another 5,000 sandbags will be filled and set aside for municipal use.There was enough sand available early in the week to fill another 15,000 sandbags.

Dayley said the department wants Parkites to be “mindful” when collecting sandbags and added people should “be prepared, and not scared.”

“We have two ditches in our town, not two rivers,” he said, referring to the two creeks in Park City.

Officials throughout Summit County and elsewhere in the region have been preparing for the runoff season even as the heavy snowfall continued into April. The danger of major flooding has been considered since the significance of the snowfall was evident.

The municipal government is providing up to 25 filled sandbags at no cost to residents and businesses. They are available at the Public Works Building on Iron Horse Drive. Unfilled sandbags and sand to fill them are also available at no cost at the location.

Sandbag request forms are available on the City Hall website, http://www.parkcity.org. The direct link to the form is: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOQa27z3kqO5M9VRmI1mOp2gVGO7fhfx0nxSUdzrmVhQ_j_w/viewform.

Someone may also request sandbags via a hotline at 435-615-5463.

More information about the runoff season is available online from the municipal government on the City Hall website, http://www.parkcity.org. The direct link is: https://www.parkcity.org/government/emergency-management/runoff-information.


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