Park City Mountain has drafted information regarding potential traffic impacts as it seeks approval for lift upgrades. The information is in a submittal to the Park City municipal government and was made public as a Wednesday Park City Planning Commission meeting approached. The possibility o f traffic impacts is expected to be one of the key topics addressed by the Planning Commission as it considers the lift upgrades. Park City Mountain is seeking to build a six-passenger lift as a replacement for two existing ones — Eagle and Eaglet. It is also bidding to install an upgraded eight-passenger lift to replace the current six-passenger Silverlode Express. There has been concern that the lift upgrades could increase traffic in the area of the base, where there are already regular backups during much of the ski season. A key passage regarding traffic related to the Silverlode Express reads: “Base area operations and guest arrival patterns remain unchanged. The Silverlode lift serves existing ski terrain and as a mid-mountain lift with no public street connectivity, the replacement does not generate new vehicular trips or impact the capacity of surrounding streets. This determination is consistent with prior City findings for similar ski-lift projects. For example, the King Con lift was previously upgraded from a four-person to a six-person detachable chairlift and Motherlode was previously upgraded from a three-person to a high-speed quad lift. The City stated in its findings of fact for the … approval of the King Con and Motherlode lifts that ‘no measurable change in vehicle traffic patterns are anticipated to result from the replacement of lifts’ and ‘no additional parking is required for the lift replacement.’” A key passage regarding traffic related to the Eagle lift reads: “The Replacement Lift is located at an existing base portal within Park City Mountain and does not introduce a new access point. As such, base area operations and guest arrival patterns remain unchanged. The project replaces two existing lifts with a single, efficient lift, improving uphill circulation and terrain access, representing an operational improvement within an established framework. As the City found in its 2008 approval of the Crescent Lift …, a base lift replacement does not result in measurable changes to vehicle traffic patterns and does not require additional parking. As the Replacement Lift does not result in unmitigated traffic impacts, it does not include new or improved parking facilities.” Traffic in the area of the Park City-side base of Park City Mountain has long been a concern of the municipal government and people who live close to the resort’s parking lots. There have been measures implemented over the years in an effort to reduce or manage the traffic, including installing gates on roads close to the base, with varying degrees of success.  The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Marsac Building. The meeting will also be broadcast online on the municipal website, parkcity.org. The direct link to the meeting information is: parkcityut.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3684/overview. The post Park City Mountain argues lift upgrades won’t impact traffic appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less