Tony Gill

The calendar may have turned to a new decade, but the endless drumbeat of debate surrounding Park City traffic issues goes on. Death, taxes and all that. Anyone who’s ever been backed up past the I-80 exit ramp in Kimball Junction on a powder day or languished in traffic on S.R. 248 between U.S. 40 and the high school knows the traffic problem is worsening and will reach an eventual breaking point. The development boom—which includes the Park City and Deer Valley parking lots and the new arts and culture district—will place increased demands on existing transportation infrastructure, so Park City officials are being forced to think outside the box in finding solutions to the traffic crunch.

The status quo is barely tenable. What used to be peak holiday and powder day issues have become everyday rush-hour occurrences. The city and county haven’t ignored the crises—they introduced new park and ride locations like the one in Ecker Hill and put in a new bus line that goes all the way out to Summit Park—but they’ve resisted other ideas. UDOT proposed widening S.R. 248 to five lanes for its entire length between U.S. 40 and S.R. 224, but after pressure from many Park City residents—including council members who live adjacent to the proposed construction—the project was scrapped despite analysis showing intersections would fail by 2040 without improvements.

The rejection of that plan has been met with credible accusations of nimbyism. The town’s suggested solution of adding a bus lane is comically insufficient. While the stated goal of reducing single-occupancy vehicles entering town is admirable, it’s impractical for many of the thousands of the commuters who come from Summit and Wasatch Counties, such as parents dropping off their kids at schools on S.R. 248. Similarly, the restricted Old Town Drop and Load Zones aimed at reducing congestion on Main Street are a good idea but are rife with issues, including the $200 annual permit fees that are a major impediment to the rideshare drivers whose services the town is trying to incentivize.

That brings us to the pie-in-the-sky idea currently being debated: a network of gondolas in town connecting resorts to Main Street to transit hubs and neighborhoods. An aerial transit network transit is ambitious, but not without precedent. Telluride has a gondola that whisks people between the mountain village and town. Park City itself operated three aerial tramways to move miners and ore all over town in the first half of the 20th century. Details remain scant, and many obstacles from aesthetics to logistics to funding remain. Whether Parkites end up gliding over town in a comprehensive aerial transit system remains to be seen, but at least Park City officials are looking in a new direction: up.

When visitors arrive in Park City at the beginning  of the 2022-2023 ski season, they’ll be greeted with a brand new seven-building complex on the West side of S.R. near the Canyons Village. But this shiny development won’t be full of surplus rental units for the visiting skiers and snowboarders in search of some dreamy Utah powder, it’ll be home for 1,153 employees who work Park City Mountain and businesses in the Canyons Village base area. The idea behind the workforce housing project—signed into agreement in 1999—may not be new, but it couldn’t come to fruition at a more crucial time.

All types of businesses in Park City are having an increasingly difficult time finding employees for seasonal work thanks to a multitude of contributing factors. Overall unemployment is currently low. High housing costs in Park City—driven by an ongoing real estate boom and the degradation of the long-term rental market in the face of apps like VRBO and Airbnb—mean fewer employees earning relatively-stagnant seasonal wages can afford to live locally. Others aren’t willing to commute from the Salt Lake Valley for those same wages. On top of all that, the result of affordable multi-mountain passes like Epic and Ikon has rendered the complimentary employee season pass—once an essential perk to attracting large numbers of workers—increasingly less enticing.

The result is businesses, particularly area ski resorts, operating at less than full capacity despite hikes in starting wages. Several employees at Park City Mountain who spoke with me on condition of anonymity said that despite ample early season snowfall in 2019 the resort wasn’t able to open more terrain prior to the holidays due to employee shortages in areas like lift ops.

Canyons Village Management Association (CVMA) is stepping up to make a tangible difference, partnering with Columbus Pacific to develop the workforce housing after submitting a project application to Summit County in fall 2019. “This is an invaluable project and one we are thoroughly excited and proud about,” Dave March CVMA Director of Marketing and Events said via email. The development’s location will provide fully furnished “pod-style” living accommodations to more than 1,100 employees on a 7.5-acre lot with easy access to Kimball Junction, downtown Park City and area resorts. The development won’t just house a critical mass of workers, but also will keep those same employees from having to commute and thereby contribute to Park City’s perpetual traffic congestion.

A single development, even one of this magnitude, won’t alone solve ongoing workforce shortages, but it’s a start. Park City’s service-based economy relies on a growing workforce to thrive, and it’s refreshing to see employers get on board to provide affordable, available housing for workers. Hopefully more will soon follow suit.

The first symptoms may be unexpected—severe nausea, prolonged vomiting, diarrhea. These don’t seem like symptoms that would be caused by inhalation. But the gastrointestinal issues are followed by shortness of breath and asthma-like wheezing. Symptoms may come on suddenly or worsen for weeks before a person goes to the hospital for help. Some don’t go to the hospital and die at home. So far, 83 lung illnesses in Utah have been reported as related to vaping with one resulting in death.

“They’re calling it the snapchat of smoking. All the kids are doing it, and even older millennials don’t know what’s going on. I’m talking of course, about vaping.” That’s not a direct quote from a local news broadcast, but with all the frighteningly vague stories popping up on television, it may as well be. Utah, like the rest of the country, has become embroiled in a vaping crisis over the past year. Misinformation abounds, engendering a dangerous level of confusion surrounding the surge in vaping-related illnesses and lung injuries. Now, legislators, officials and health care professionals are caught playing catch-up in an attempt to regulate a perplexing product and control a situation that has gotten out of hand before it was even recognized.

The vaping crisis consists of two distinct issues. The first—which has been the primary subject of panicky news coverage—is the surge in acute lung disease, which is associated with use of illicit THC vape products. The other concerns widespread nicotine-based vape product use, particularly among teens. The two problems, however, do intersect in several ways, including sharing a lack of data-driven information and regulatory oversight.

Dr. Sean Callahan, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah and a pulmonologist at the U of U hospital who works in the ICU, provided us with concrete information about vaping-related illness. On the probable causes and health outcomes associated with vaping illicit THC products, he stressed the importance of battling misinformation.

“Something changed in 2019 with the rise in acute lung disease related to vaping,” Dr. Callahan says. “There’s a misconception that people are inhaling a bunch of oil. That’s not what’s happening. Something people are inhaling is causing an inflammatory response in their lungs. We’re not certain what substances are to blame, but I suspect there are several. Vitamin E acetate is a likely culprit, but even if we remove that from the supply there are so many different ingredients being heated to different temperatures by different devices that it’s hard to identify what’s causing all cases.”

Most cases can be directly linked to the use of illicit THC products, which does not include THC products purchased legally in states neighboring Utah like Colorado and Nevada. Still, between 10 and 20 percent of cases are unaccounted for as patients deny having used THC products. Dr. Callahan said treatment for vaping-related illness typically consists of vaping cessation and the use of steroids to control inflammation. Some cases are relatively easy to treat, while others have been deadly. Long-term effects are largely unknown.

“We’re almost certainly going to see long-term pulmonary issues like asthma and COPD in some people who vape, but it hasn’t been around long enough, and it hasn’t been studied enough,” Dr. Callahan says. “In the U.K. vaping has been used effectively to facilitate smoking cessation, and I’m not opposed to that. The idea was marketed similarly in the U.S., but we don’t have the regulatory support to do that here.” The high rate of vaping among teens in Utah, often fueled by a lack of information, is particularly concerning. “A lot of teens we see in the clinic don’t think there’s nicotine in what they’re vaping, but there is,” Dr. Callahan says. Many users think they’re just inhaling harmless flavored water vapor when they’re using an insidiously habit-forming product, and flavored vape cartridges are undoubtedly targeting minors in ways that would make Joe Camel blush.

Callahan says research shows people who use standard nicotine vaping products are more likely to try smoking cigarettes and THC-containing vape products. That trend was at the heart of efforts by Utah officials to implement an emergency restriction that would remove all flavored vape products from grocery and convenience stores. District Judge Keith Kelly struck down the measure, saying the Utah Department of Health’s (UDOH) assertion that the trend of nicotine users moving on to vaping THC doesn’t constitute imminent peril, which is required to implement emergency restrictions. UDOH responded by following the state’s normal 120-day process for making new regulations and published draft rules on January 1 that would reinstate the ban on flavored vape products outside of specialty tobacco shops. As of the present time those rules are still being debated with attorneys representing vape retailers arguing the new rules would hurt 90 percent of the state’s 1,700 tobacco retailers, 1,300 of which are classified as small businesses.

Meanwhile more than 125 cases of vaping-related lung illness have been identified in Utah. By the end of 2019 vaping rates in Utah were higher among high school seniors than any other age group surveyed by UDOH.

Health officials are stuck playing regulatory catch-up, but pro-business factions in Utah have historically wielded strong political influence against what they deem “overreach.” We’ll soon find out if Utah legislators have the moral courage to stand up for the health of their Utah residents, particularly minors. I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The debate surrounding Welcoming Schools in Park City has reemerged after a State Board of Education committee recommended a new draft of the state rule regarding anti-bullying campaigns in Utah public schools that initially ignited debate. The new draft includes language that safeguards protected classes of people who may be bullied based on race, gender identity or sexual orientation. A previous draft of the rule eschewed specific mentions of and protections for federally protected classes of people.

For those unfamiliar with the Welcoming Schools program, it is a professional development curriculum for teachers at Trailside Elementary School implemented to meet a state requirement to include an anti-bullying campaign. Welcoming Schools focuses specifically on combatting bullying to build schools that are safe and inclusive for LGBTQ students and all people of gender identities. An anonymous group of parents and an attorney representing them from the anti-LGBTQ hate group Pacific Justice Institute, inaccurately and deceptively called the program an “LGBTQ indoctrination program and sex education program” as part of a cease-and-desist letter sent to try to derail the program. The action, which was dubiously presented as free-speech advocacy, led to furor and heated discourse throughout the community.

The revised rule is aimed to increase clarity within its language that will properly help schools gather data on bullying and discrimination. Most were happy to see requirements for the inclusion of anti-bullying protections for people protected by Title IX and the Civil Rights Act as a part of required training. Still, some balked at the potential infringement of free speech rights, including Utah Board of Education member Jennie Earl. Earl put forward an amendment addressing “the rights of a school employee, parent, or student to exercise the right of free speech.” The amendment was modified and ultimately accepted by the committee.

Some in attendance asserted the amendment serves to protect bullies rather bullied students, which I believe is a fair representation of its intent. It should be noted as always, that the First Amendment protects people from persecution and arrest by the government. It does not shield one from community criticism or backlash, nor does it inoculate those who say bigoted things in schools from consequence.

The School Board may approve the new rule in March and implement it as early as May following a public comment period. There is no good-faith or intellectually honest argument against building safer and more inclusive schools to be made. If these issues are important to you, stay up to date with the Utah Board of Education and submit your comments when appropriate.

See all our community coverage here.

Beleaguered, powder-hungry skiers have been battling traffic up and down the Cottonwood Canyons this winter. Skier volume and vehicle traffic have been steadily increasing with each passing season, and the problems are particularly acute when heavy snowfall—which attracts skiers and snowboarders like moths to a light—necessitates avalanche mitigation work on the canyon roads as it did during the historic avalanche cycle following a storm system earlier this month. Clearly a populous city abutting a mountain range with world-class skiing presents unique transportation requirements, and the Central Wasatch Commission (CWC) is committed to tackling the gridlock with sustainable, effective transportation solutions. Right now, they’re looking for public input to help guide their planning.

The CWC’s goal of a comprehensive Mountain Transit System arose from the conclusions of Mountain Accord, in which federal, state and local jurisdictions along with private entities collaborated to come up with management solutions for the Central Wasatch Mountains the reflected the interests of conservation groups, businesses including all four Cottonwood Canyon Ski Resorts and private citizens. The four primary goals were to protect the environment and natural resources, ensure high quality recreational experiences, strengthen the regional economy and enhance regional transportation. An effective transit solution is key to achieving all these goals, which is why the CWC is pushing to outline the development of transportation initiatives by the end of 2020, including identifying potential funding sources.

For skiers and snowboarders who frequent the Cottonwood Canyons, the impact will be felt with measures that incentivize public transit use and dis-incentivize single-occupancy vehicle access. That likely means more busses and other public transit options in addition to more paid parking like you’ll already find at Solitude Resort. Deliverables CWC hopes will achieve those aims are outlined below, and full details are available here.

• High-capacity transit in the Little Cottonwood Canyon/Big Cottonwood Canyon/Park City corridor.
• Transit incentives and automobile disincentives including parking/pricing strategies.
• Year-round local bus service in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons.
• Fast transit service from the airport to the Park City area via I-80.
• Improved transit service on US 40 and I-80 between Quinn’s Junction and Kimball Junction. Improved transit connections in Summit County.
• High capacity transit connections in the eastern Salt Lake Valley.
• Safety and access improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The public comment period for this phase of the planning is open until Sunday, March 1. There should be no shortage of suggestions, as everyone seems to have their own priorities and the alleged perfect fix for Wasatch transportation woes, so make sure your voice is heard as well by submitting your comment here, or emailing CWC staff at comments@cwc.utah.gov. The work that goes into the Central Wasatch Commission Mountain Transportation System this year will likely define what the future of what access to the Cottonwood Canyons looks like, so be involved in the process and stay up to date by visiting the CWC website regularly.

The transit crisis in Park City has grown into an all-encompassing boogeyman in the minds of many residents and visitors to town. The congestion locking down both entryways into town during peak times is contributing to not only to dreaded powder day delays, but also to the growing workforce shortage that threatens to upend a resort town economy. Many people are reaching a breaking point, especially as the organizations tasked with alleviating the issue—namely Park City, Summit County and Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) are mired in their own sort of gridlock when it comes to getting on the same page.

For the past 40 years, Park City’s transit district has helmed the area’s public transit projects, but as the year-round population has boomed throughout Snyderville Basin and the rest of Summit County, the County has rapidly expanded its role as seen with public transit routes serving areas including Kamas, Trailside and Summit Park. The County has more than doubled its annual transit spending over the past six years, and understandably they would like a larger seat at the table before putting down real money, which County manager Tom Fisher says they’re ready to do.

Despite pipe dreams of a monorail—MONORAIL!— or an all-encompassing aerial transit system of gondolas, rapid transit bus lines with minimal stops between crucial nodes have been deemed the future. The rapid transit bus system is estimated to cost $75 million—much of which would be allocated to purchasing land for bus lanes and transit nodes—which goes well beyond the maximum of $25 million in federal grants that could be used to mitigate the costs.

Even if the funding challenges were resolved, aligning the interests of the instrumental parties has proven challenging. UDOT received fierce local opposition after proposing widening the corridor on S.R. 248. Bus lanes in the shoulder meant to bypass traffic on S.R. 224 have proven ineffective when it snows as UDOT plows don’t prioritize clearing those lanes at times when they would be most useful. County officials suggest the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA)—which controls the land of the proposed Mayflower Mountain Resort near the Jordanelle—and Wasatch County should also participate as part of a wider regional effort.

In the case of the proposed rapid bus transit system, City Hall envisions placing the Park City node in the to-be-developed Bonanza Park arts and culture district on Bonanza Drive. County officials think the node should take commuters all the way to Main Street, whereas City officials feel a proposed aerial transit system would ideally whisk people to resorts, shops and restaurants. County and City councils are set to meet on February 5 to better define the roles each will play in the future project. Ideally, they find a way to bury petty impulses about who’s the boss and play nice in a way that benefits people from each of their constituencies.

The always thorny topic of rising housing costs in the area is also inextricably tied to transit and will continue to affect discussions. An expanded transit system would require a substantial increase in employees including drivers and maintenance workers. Mirroring the larger employment shortage in the area, some city councilors feel those positions would be difficult to fill. Park City Councilor Becca Gerber has posed concerns about a “workforce rebellion”—in whatever form that may take—that could exacerbate the dearth of workers and lead to a further decline in the level of service a resort-based economy depends on to thrive. Without a way for workers to live or commute to Park City, it’s growing increasingly difficult to see a way out of the predicament.

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