The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, earlier in the summer visited Utah, making his way toward Summit County on a tour that was designed to highlight the importance of strengthening infrastructure against the danger of natural disasters like wildfires.
This week, one month after Buttigieg’s appearance, the congressman who represents Park City and wider Summit County, Blake Moore, made a local stop to discuss topics that included transportation.
Buttigieg, who is a Democrat, and the Republican Moore occupy far different places on the political spectrum, but the two visits highlight that the importance of the difficult issue of transportation to the Park City area stretches well beyond the Marsac Building and the County Courthouse.
Anyone one who lives locally likely understands there has been, over time, genuine progress on transportation issues. The bus system not so long ago was Park City-centric, seeming to be designed primarily to shuttle visitors between their lodging, the mountain resorts and Main Street. The system nowadays continues to serve tourism-heavy destinations, but also better serves people who live in Park City or outlying Summit County.
Yet even with the progress, transportation and the closely linked topic of traffic remain two of the issues that continue to test the patience of Parkites, commuters and visitors. As they crawl toward their destinations in the Park City-area backups, they care very little of a visit by the transportation secretary or a congressman. Their attention is instead on the line of cars they see through the windshield.
Visits like the recent ones by Buttigieg and Moore help put a spotlight on an important issue, but there is always a worry that appearances by high-ranking officials actually accomplish little other than generating publicity. Buttitieg during his visit to Utah announced a $7 billion-plus initiative, but it is unknown what sort of dollar figure will ultimately assist Park City and Summit County. Moore, to his credit, helped deliver $25 million in federal monies to a county transportation effort along the S.R. 224 corridor, one of the reasons for his stop.
Park City and Summit County leaders need to understand that Washington figures like Buttigieg and Moore can only make so much progress on the local issues. It is instead themselves who must be in the driver’s seat.