In 2009 Park City, in partnership with UDOT, prepared a corridor plan for SR-248 between SR-224 and US-40. The SR-248 Corridor Plan identified a range of conceptual alternatives that met the following objectives identified in Park City’s Entry Corridors Management Strategic Plan:
- Gain a thorough understanding of volumes and travel patterns that make up the current and future traffic conditions along the entry corridors
- Ensure current capacity of entry corridors are utilized effectively before expanding roads or related infrastructure
In addition, Park City considered pedestrian and bicycle modes, alternative entry corridors, and carbon impacts associated with all conceptual alternatives.
The SR-248 2009 Corridor Plan evaluated a four lane alternative, a directional lane alternative, and dedicated bus/high-occupancy Vehicles (HOV) lane alternatives. Three alternative entry corridors were studied. In 2015 Park City revisited the conceptual alternatives set forward in 2009 using updated traffic count information and micro-simulation analysis. This study utilized traditional traffic engineering principles to evaluate the roadway based on the single occupancy vehicle user. Metrics used to evaluate the performance of the roadway included delay, level of service, and travel time. In addition, objectives of Park City’s updated Traffic and Transportation Master Plan (2011) were applied to encourage HOV trips using transit, walking and/or biking. To meet the transportation needs of this corridor, numerous conceptual alternatives were developed including:
- Full widening of SR-248 to two travel lanes in each direction and a center turn lane from SR-224 to US-40
- Constructing a reversible lane from Wyatt Earp Way to Richardson Flats, which would fit within the existing right-of-way (ROW), but would require the installation of traffic control gantries
- Either of the above two options with the extra lane functioning as an HOV/bus lane during peak periods
In 2016 Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) completed a concept report for improving roadway capacity and bike facilities along the project corridor. The report’s purpose was to evaluate possible roadway improvements, identify environmental risks, and then evaluate costs of possible improvements. The improvements considered included widening SR-248 to include bicycle lanes, turn lanes, as well as pedestrian safety infrastructure.
While the prior studies provided valuable information, they did not satisfy federal law for National Environmental Policy Act procedures pursuant to 40 CFR 1500-1508. Therefore, in summer of 2017, UDOT and Park City initiated the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the long-term transportation needs of SR-248. The EA will develop and evaluate alternatives through a screening process before selecting a preferred alternative.
