So, after years of careful analysis we have found a solution to alleviate traffic problems in Park City.

MAKE THE DAMN TRAFFIC LIGHTS WORK

This morning from approximately 7AM, until well past 8AM, the traffic lights at the Kimball Junction exit all flashed red. What’s the impact of blinking red lights? In this case traffic was backed up from the I-80 offramp, all the way back onto I-80, to the Hi Ute Barn. That’s almost a mile.

It wasn’t uncommon this summer for the lights at Highway 224 and Ute Boulevard to be out, causing a similar traffic impact (often at rush hour).

We’re sure that the county would tell us that the lights are the responsibility of UDOT. And that’s true. However, almost every solution that the county has presented with regard to traffic requires working with UDOT. Whether it’s roundabouts at Jeremy Ranch/Pinebrook or widening Highway 248 as promised with the sales tax increase, UDOT is the man.

Which begs the question, if we can’t get them to effectively manage traffic lights, which cause huge traffic issues for us, how do we have faith that a roundabout next to an elementary school is going to be done safely?

We’ve been told not to worry because the county will work with them to ensure the public’s needs are met. However, when we see traffic lights with continual issues that cause huge problems, it makes us question that. It makes us ask the question, “if you can’t work together to get a traffic light right, can you really design and implement Utah’s most complicated round-about ever designed?”

We guess we’ll see, but we have a little less faith as time goes on.