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Show Disgruntled Marsac residents take traffic i complaints to council by Christopher Smart Angry Marsac Avenue residents presented the Park City Council with a petition July Hi asking that construction traffic from projects in Deer Valley be rerouted from their . street. Responding to the petition, which states that the trucks are a safety hazard as well as noisy, City Manager Arlene Loble said that Marsac Avenue is a state highway. As such, she explained, there is little to be done about the problem with the exception of introducing load limits. Greg Lawson, representing the Marsac residents, said the city should take action on the traffic. "We can't expect the state to do anything," he said. The city has the authority to designate truck routes, he added. Lawson told the members of the Council that if they didn't act the Marsac residents were prepared to take action, legal or otherwise, to change the present traffic pattern. According to Lawson and half a dozen other Marsac residents present, the noise from the large trucks begins at 6 am. and continues until dark every day of the week. Park City Police Sargent Lloyd Evans maintains that the size of the trucks and their noise makes them appear to be going faster than they really are. Evans also pointed out that the speed limit on lower Marsac Avenue is reduced from 35 to 20 miles per hour, forcing the trucks to downshift and increasing the noise. Patrolling the area for speeding trucks works only as long as the patrolmen stay at the site, Evans added. Addressing concerns about brake failure by the heavy trucks. Deer Valley spokesman Bob Kammerle said that perhaps the construction of a runaway truck lane could be investigated. He added, however, that routing the trucks from projects in the Silver Lake area down winding Royal Street into lower Deer Valley would be more hazardous than the current truck route. Kammerle explained that the roads in Deer Valley were not constructed to handle the loads the trucks were hauling up and down the mountain. He argued that introducing a weight limit would not solve the problem. But Lawson countered by saying, "If there is a problem with traffic in this town it is the responsibility of Deer Valley. To foist this on the Historic District is unforgiveable." Lawson argued that the current traffic and noise are not a short-term short-term problem. "They started rolling in May and the traffic has only increased... This is going to go on for another five or ten years." Lawson asked the Council to study alternatives for resolving the traffic issue on Marsac. Among his !. suggestions was an ordinance to ' reroute the traffic through Deer ' Valley. j Mayor Jack Green told the ( Marsac residents the city staff and council would study the problem. 1 "We realize that a problem exists," I he said. He added, however, that a ' solution can come only through working with Deer Valley and Utah I Department of Transportation. j Deer Valley Resort Company Executive Vice President John ! Mi i Her agreed that a workable solution would be difficult to find. He I1 explained that the construction j traffic is due to as many as 10 J different projects that are not a part ; of the Deer Valley Resort itself. There are a number of other ! projects slated for the near future, ; including ones in Bonanza Flat that i could not be rerouted through Deer Valley roads, he added. He said that traffic could also increase if United j Park City Mines re-opened the ! Ontario Mine, which is served by 1 that same road. ( "The life-safety issues can be addressed without rerouting traffic," Miiller said. The construction traffic is "the price of I progress," he added. I |