Remember what you are promised on transportation (Ballot propositions 9 and 10)

By now you probably know that the Park Rag has a negative opinion on the proposed sales tax increases for transportation. However the truth is that most tax increases are passed in Summit County. You have the Park Record coming out in support of it. You have vested interests like the Chamber of Commerce who wants the public to solve their problems. So, let’s give the city and county the benefit of the doubt and say the propositions will pass.

What should you expect?

We’d like to be cheeky and say that you should expect “Transportation to be solved!”… but we all know that isn’t going to happen. So, what should you expect, given what the city and county have published?

Let’s just look at the Voter Information Packet sent out from the County. In a section called “Argument in Favor of Propositions 9 and 10” they have a sidebar entitled Program Elements. This appears to describe what to expect if the propositions pass. Here are the highlights:

• Carpool and HOV lane for buses on 248
• Better school access to the High School, McPolin, and Treasure Mountain
• The Richardson Flat park and ride will finally be regularly used
• The intersection at Bonanza and 248 will be made better
• Bus priority lanes will run from Kimball Junction, all through town, to Deer Valley drive
• The Kearns intersection at 224 will be made better
• There will be remote parking locations made on I-80 and Highway 40
• New remote parking facilities will be constructed to encourage bus and carpooling
• Funding will be made available for transportation improvements in Kamas, Coalville, Francis, Henefer, and Oakley.
• Program will be established that will enable other modes of transportation besides car. Options include bike share, iphone apps, and trail/sidewalk construction
• 50% shorter wait times on bus service
• Redo the Jeremy Ranch interchange to make it transit friendly
• Bus service to the East side of the county
• New bus routed to Kamas, Oakley, Francis, and Coalville to meet commute schedules
• Four additional runs of PC SLC Connect Bus Service daily to meet work schedules