01139051

Component

The town of Springdale, Utah, lies at the entrance to Zion National Park in the southwestern corner of the state. This spectacular national park is immensely popular, receiving 2.6 million visitors in 2006, and shows no signs of slowing down. Springdale, in contrast, has 500 residents and one main road through town. Springdale’s economy relies on the tourists for survival, but the main road is clogged during the peak season with cars, buses, pedestrians, and cyclists. In 2006, Springdale and Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) began working together to pursue a non-motorized trail to provide an alternative to the primary route into and out of both the town and national park. The town used innovative evaluation strategies to screen trail alignment alternatives and harnessed local resources to build support for the trail. This paper provides an overview of the trail planning process, and discusses the challenges posed by a small but vocal faction of property owners. It will also outline the process of establishing consensus among a wide range of interagency interests. Techniques of interest to small and medium-sized communities include budget-conscious methods of evaluating and selecting trail alignments, and approaches to dealing with project opponents.

01138544

English

9p

2008

11th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

CD-ROM

Maps; Photos

Buses; National parks; Nonmotorized transportation; Outdoor recreation; Public transit; Recreational facilities; Tourism; Traffic congestion; Trials

Springdale (Arkansas); Springdale (Utah); Zion National Park

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB

Aug 24 2009 1:55PM