Park City next week might take an early step toward work along Main Street that would alter the circulation of traffic, as leaders consider moving forward with improvements to the shopping, dining and entertainment strip.
Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council are scheduled to consider authorizing a contract of a maximum of $275,000 with a firm called Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. for work related to feasibility and conceptual design.
The work, if the contract is approved as drafted, will focus on a series of potential improvements. Some of the notable ones include turning the street into a one-way route, developing a roundabout toward the southern end of the commercial district and improvements to the Heber Avenue intersections with Main Street and Swede Alley.
A one-way route would alter the way Main Street functions, as would a roundabout at the intersection with Swede Alley.
Some of the other potential improvements:
- A curb-less street oriented toward pedestrians.
- A circulator lane for the Main Street trolley in both directions.
- More bus stops along Heber Avenue.
- A reduction of Main Street parking, which would be pursued with the potential of parking projects on Swede Alley.
The work would “provide visual representation of potential designs, identify benefits and associated costs to enable public feedback and council direction to determine the best possible solution,” a City Hall report drafted in anticipation of a Thursday meeting of the City Council said.
A timeline for the work was not clear should the City Council approve the contract, but the feasibility and design tasks would be a necessary precursor to any actual construction that may be pursued later.
The contract would follow in the months after a robust debate about the future of Main Street. Businesses on or close to Main Street want to increase the attractiveness of the commercial core and ensure the street remains competitive against outlying districts. Main Street sees improvements as a step toward that goal. The discussions at that point involved a more ambitious package of potential improvements than those outlined in the contract that will be considered by the elected officials next week. There has been criticism, though, about the possibility of an impact on the historic fabric of Main Street under the full package of potential improvements.
It is not clear whether the municipal government will press ahead with some of the larger possibilities outlined in the Main Street Area Plan. The broad plan included mentions of new public spaces, hotels, a town square, workforce housing and a redone Brew Pub lot. Those sorts of improvements would require extensive approval processes and public debate.
The plan also mentioned the prospects of aerial transit via a gondola in the Main Street core. The elected officials addressed aerial transit at a recent meeting, but it appears any final decision about a route or routes could be well into the future. The Main Street core, though, has long been seen as ultimately becoming a stop on any aerial network based on the amount of traffic that descends upon the street.