Park City Council meeting on Sept. 15 to discuss several big ticket items

One discussion in the Sept. 15 meeting is the Bus Stop Improvement Program, which was created in response to community engagement that expressed a desire to "improve and enhance Park City bus stops." Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — The agenda for Park City’s City Council Meeting on September 15 is packed with several big ticket items. Among them include discussions about the speed limits in Park City, the Bus Stop Improvement Program, and results from the Park City 2022 Utah Wellbeing Survey. The meeting will be open to the public in-person and virtually here.

The discussion about changing speed limits within Park City will include a presentation from city Engineering and a discussion by the city council. Both will center around the process used to reevaluate appropriate speed limits within Park City. Speed limits have been a new part of city councils across the state since H.B. 235 passed in the Utah legislature, giving city governments the responsibility to determine speed limits within their boundaries. Salt Lake City recently changed speed limits within its boundaries, switching 25 mph signs out for 20 mph signs in many neighborhoods.

Specifically, Park City Council will be considering three different options regarding speed limits. The first is to steady the course with the existing methodology used to determine speed limits, resulting in little to no change around the city. The second is a process in which each road in the city would be analyzed and designated a speed limit individually, requiring a “geometric review of all roadways within the city.” The third would require a systematic designation based on classifications of different roadway types such as local, collector, and arterial. Salt Lake City Transportation Division adopted a system similar to the third option in March 2022.

The September 15 council meeting will also be discussing the Bus Stop Improvement Program. The program was created in response to community engagement that expressed a desire to “improve and enhance Park City bus stops.” This program will include about $12 million in grants and spending to improve bus stops around Park City. The staff report about the program indicates that Park City is currently in “Phase 3” of the program, implementation, in which they plan to construct 72 bus stop improvements through the mentioned grant money. These improvements include minor sidewalk repairs, ADA boarding pads, signage, seating, and “full scale overhaul” of current bus stops.

TownLift previously reported on the Park City 2022 Utah Wellbeing Survey in April 2022. The survey was created by a partnership between Park City municipal and Utah State University and was designed to gather information about several different wellbeing topics within Park City. The survey ran from March through April 2022, and made its results public on August 19, 2022. During the September 15 City Council meeting, the city council will discuss results specific to local respondents. The published staff report on the survey indicates that the survey found personal wellbeing in Park City was “average” among the 33 study cities, while community wellbeing ranked “below average.” Readers can find the full staff report here.