The traffic and parking issue in Little Cottonwood Canyon is well-documented. There is legendary bumper-to-bumper traffic heading up the canyon to Alta and Snowbird. In addition, skiers are sometimes being turned away from overflowing parking lots. Something needs to be done. Some proposed solutions include building a gondola or using busses to get skiers from the bottom of the canyon up to the resorts.
A sensible first step is to restrict parking and encourage carpooling. According to a report from TownLift, Alta will begin requiring reservations to park on weekends and holiday periods starting in mid-December. Holiday widows include December 23 – January 2, Martin Luther King Day, and President’s Day. Reservations can be made on the AltaParking website.
Season pass holders will be able to park for free. Skiers who purchase day tickets on the Alta website ahead of time will be charged $10 to park. Those who plan to purchase a lift ticket at the hill will pay $25. The fine for parking without a reservation will be $75.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Alta says this is a way to ensure that those heading up to ski will be able to park. Turning away cars on busy weekends and holidays is not good for anyone.
Images From: Alta Ski Area Facebook Page, SnowBrains, Straight Chuter
