Construction completed for State Route 9 through Springdale
Road to Zion opens new vistas
By Kevin Kitchen
Travelers to Zion National Park are in for some new surprises as they enter the gateway community of Springdale. The Utah Department of Transportation cut the ribbon May 16 on a $19 million roadway reconstruction project on State Route 9 that provides new bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and new curbing in concert with the new pavement to keep the road viable for several decades to come.
The project along Springdale’s main thoroughfare was designed to enhance the tourist experience, which is a staple of the local economy, while dispersing the increasing congestion that often places local residents at odds with traffic queues of motorized vehicles trying to enter Zion National Park or get in and out of cars.
The new configuration removed much of the on-street parking and above-ground utilities to enhance other modes of travel such as cycling, walking, and shuttle system accommodation while seeking to preserve historic aspects of the town. The resulting roadway now opens up greater views of the canyon previously obstructed by infrastructure and provides improved safety features with less conflict for explorers of the town’s businesses.
Tourists entering in motorized vehicles will now discover paid parking in many locations to address the mobility friction of accumulating parking associated with increased visitation.
Springdale also updated its water system and opted to beautify street lighting placed as part of the project.
The reconstruction through Springdale commenced in October last year in an effort to avoid peak tourism travel times. Even with the winter construction and calculated traffic planning, crews still worked through increasing traffic queues as parking filled up inside the park.
The ribbon cutting comes just in time to clear the way for Memorial Day Weekend when tourist migration in Utah typically enters it’s peak season.
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