Longtime Sundance Film Festival-goers learned years ago that a parking spot in the Main Street core can be as prized as a ticket to a screening of a world premiere.
As Park City prepares for the Thursday opening of the first in-person Sundance in three years, Main Street is again expected to be jammed with film lovers, the Hollywood crowds, celebrity gawkers and Parkites. Park City officials and festival organizers hope many take the free buses to Main Street, but there will be numerous drivers in personal vehicles looking for parking spaces nonetheless.
It will likely be even more difficult to find a spot close to Main Street than it normally is during the ski season. City Hall as part of the overall operational plan for Sundance has started parking restrictions and will expand them in the period before Sundance opens on Thursday.
The schedule of parking closures drafted by the municipal government started on Jan. 12 and runs until early February.
• the Bob Wells Plaza spots will be closed until Feb. 1. The restrictions started on Thursday.
• a partial closure of the lot on the north side of the Marsac Building runs from Jan. 18 until Jan. 30.
• the parking on the west side of Main Street will be closed from Jan. 17 until Jan. 28.
• the parking on Park Avenue between the Heber Avenue and 9th Street intersections will be closed Jan. 18 until Jan. 28.
• the parking on the rest of Main Street, Heber Avenue and Swede Alley will be closed Jan. 19 until Jan. 28. General parking in the Brew Pub lot during the period will be removed as well, with certain spots available for the disabled.
• the parking on the west side of Park Avenue will be available only to residents from Jan. 19 until Jan. 28.
• parking in the flagpole lot on Swede Alley will be limited to people who hold City Hall-issued employee permits from Jan. 19 until Jan. 28.
• parking in the Galleria lot on Swede Alley will be available exclusively to the disabled from Jan. 19 until Jan. 28.
People who hold business permits issued by City Hall will have access during the festival to parking in the flagpole lot, the Gateway Center, the Sandridge lots off Marsac Avenue and the lot on the north side of the Marsac Building.
The closures serve a variety of purposes, including creating space for emergency vehicles, assisting with traffic flow and reducing traffic.
More information is available in the Park City Community Guide, a publication drafted by City Hall that provides wide-ranging information designed to help someone navigate through Sundance. It is available on the municipal website, www.parkcity.org. The direct link is: https://www.parkcity.org/home/showpublisheddocument/73087/638088707740270000.