Park City Council stops short of approving Quinn’s Junction Park and Ride in 3-2 vote

The design for the Quinn's Junction Park and Ride lot Photo: Park City Municipal Corporation

PARK CITY, Utah — In a 3-2 vote Thursday night, the Park City Council chose to not approve a construction agreement for the Quinn’s Junction Park and Ride. The issue has been tabled so the city can acquire more information.

The newest councilors — Tana Toly, Jeremy Rubell, and Ryan Dickey — voted against moving forward. Rubell and Dickey want to see more traffic analysis and talk with stakeholders prior to making a final decision. Both said that the fact that two Summit County Councilors were against the development affected their decision.

At the joint Summit County Council-Park City Council meeting on Tuesday, two county officials encouraged the city to reject funding for the development.

“I see this parking lot as having marginal utility and having big problems with traffic flow off of Route 40,” Summit County Councilor Glenn Wright said. “I would urge city council to reject funding on this when you get the chance.”

Park City Councilors Max Doilney and Becca Gerber supported moving forward.

If approved, the project would create 465 parking stalls along Old Highway 40 near SR-248. Park City Engineer John Robertson previously set the goal of trying to make it available by next ski season.

Park City Municipal previously received a $3.9 million grant from the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) to construct a park-and-ride lot. The city council began working on the design phase of the lot in November 2017.

Discussion centered around the Richardson Flat Park and Ride lot, which was viewed as underutilized but inconvenient.

Summit County Councilor Doug Clyde pointed to the Richardson Flat lot on Tuesday, saying “we need to do real work out there, solve a real problem, put in real infrastructure.”

Doilney said he visited the lot this week and that it was “sketchy.” He said he wouldn’t feel comfortable with his wife or one of his employees alone on a bus out there at night.

“If we kick the can on this one, then I don’t want to hear any complaining about traffic for the next four to five years because we are trying to come up with solutions,” Doilney said.

Tana Toly was most against the project. On top of the underused Richardson Flat lot, she said she doesn’t see why people will all of a sudden start using the bus to get into the city. Becca Gerber said that the ski resorts implementing paid parking in the near future will be what incentivizes skiers to take the bus.

“I just feel like we have this whole park and ride out there and we’ve just let it go because we just haven’t ever wanted to try anything,” Toly said of the Richardson Flat lot. “If we’re trying to be bold and trying to change behavior, then let’s change behavior and get people into Richardson Flat.”

“I think we have an opportunity to build a parking lot that will serve some of the needs of our community to meet all the needs of our community,” Gerber later said of the Quinn’s Junction project.

Robertson said the city will have to put out a new bid in the future, as their current contract with Wardell Brothers Construction expires in 45 days.