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Arches And Canyonlands National Parks Seeking Input On Traffic Plan

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By NPT Staff - July 20th, 2015

How would you solve traffic and parking problems at Canyonlands and Arches national parks?/Kurt Repanshek

If you've ever visited Canyonlands and Arches national parks in southeastern Utah during the busy season, you know that finding a parking spot near the key geologic attractions can be difficult at times. So how would you solve the congestion problems?

Earlier this year the National Park Service started a project in Arches to expand the parking area at the Delicate Arch trailhead to help solve part of the problem. But now the agency wants to take a broader approach to parking and traffic issues in the two parks.

The Park Service is now seeking public input on possible solutions to the parking crunch. 

During peak season, all major parking areas in the parks are at or over capacity several hours a day. When this occurs, visitors park their cars along roadsides for long distances and walk in traffic to their destination, while stopped cars waiting for spaces to become available at parking lots impede traffic flow. As a result, visitor safety is compromised, conflicts arise between visitors, roadside vegetation is damaged, and the positive visitor experience is diminished.

The purpose of the Traffic Congestion Management Plan is to explore ideas and identify solutions to solve these crowding problems.The overall goal of the plan is to protect and enhance the current and future visitor experience in the parks while protecting park resources and values.

In January 2015, the Park Service held an open house to seek feedback from the public on various congestion management strategies for Arches National Park, and comments received offered a variety of possible solutions to managing congestion in the park. The NPS is now beginning the compliance process to further examine those solutions as part of a Traffic Congestion Management Plan and Environmental Assessment for both Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The suggested solutions are described, along with some of the pros and cons of implementing each solution, in the attached public scoping newsletter.

Individuals wishing to participate are asked to submit comments on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at:

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/arch_traffic_congestion_management (Arches), orhttp://parkplanning.nps.gov/cany_traffic_congestion_management (Canyonlands).

Deadline for comments submitted via these websites is August 19.

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