A gondola network in the Park City area is not required to stage a Winter Olympics.
Nor is a local light rail system or any other significant transportation-related project.
The group seeking to host the Games of 2034 in the state briefly addressed the topic of preparing the transportation network in the region in a submittal to the International Olympic Committee.
One of the passages in the IOC submittal indicates the Games “can be feasibly delivered with the current transportation network and no major transport-related capital investments would be required.”
“All proposed Games venues are in operation today and the existing transportation network serves these venues well for hosting events,” according to the submittal, which is a collection of responses from the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games covering numerous topics related to staging the event.
The passage continues, saying the transportation services “can be augmented as required to ensure convenient transportation services for all stakeholder groups.”
It also says: “Further, a range of exciting initiatives are being explored by Utah’s transportation leadership that could provide innovative transport, increase the efficiency of the transportation network, improve safety, and reduce emissions and costs.” The submittal does not provide details.
The statement by the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games regarding the ability of the current network to carry the Games crowds without significant investments is notable in Park City and surrounding Summit County.
There has appeared to be a notion in the community that there could be an opportunity to pursue transportation projects on a condensed timeline if the Games are awarded. The thinking goes that there would be an infusion of federal monies as the Winter Olympic region prepares for the Games. Under that scenario, Park City and Summit County, being critical to the overall plans, could tap the monies for a range of projects with backing from a Winter Olympic organizing committee.
The Park City area in the years before the 2002 Winter Olympics employed a similar strategy, and there were important infrastructure upgrades completed. They included the Old Town transit center and the related Old Town roundabout as well as road improvements at Kimball Junction and Silver Creek Junction. The work was seen as ambitious for that era and designed to ensure the infrastructure could function at high levels with the arrival of the Games crowds. The projects, though, also were important to the long-term future of a community continuing to grow.
It is not known with certainty what transportation-related projects Park City or Summit County may see as viable for the use of any federal monies linked to the preparations for an Olympics, but it is likely leaders in the two jurisdictions in the time after the award of the Games will begin to more closely consider possibilities.
The submittal to the IOC was filed in the period before the Games of 2034 are expected to be awarded to Salt Lake City during meetings in Paris on the eve of the opening of the Summer Olympics in the French capital.
Park City and surrounding Summit County would have a large role in a second Games in the state, as was the case in 2002. Three competition venues are proposed: Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park. The community would also be key to the transportation, security and celebration plans.
The related issues of transportation and traffic are important to leaders in Park City and Summit County as they continue to attempt to address congestion. The traffic backups along the Park City entryways and elsewhere remain a strike against the community even after years of efforts designed to reduce the crush of cars.