News
As an Eagle County resident who works in Vail Village, I understand the problem with parking pretty intimately.
I know the town of Vail is working on the problem and I read an article recently that they were making construction workers park at Golden Peak between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. While that is a start I think you will find that the workers will probably just change their start times so they can use the structure anyway. I don't blame them. Who wants to carry a load of tools from their truck halfway across town twice a day? It's going to get really bad this winter, so here's an idea or two for the town to kick around:
1. The three main sites that are employing these workers are the Solaris, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton Projects. Know there is still a lot of work to be done, but all three sites have copious amounts of underground parking. Solaris' web site says approximately 300 spaces, and based on number of rooms I would guess that Four Seasons has 150-plus and the Ritz another 100 or so.
Why can't the town issue conditional temporary occupancy certificates for the parking garages on these sites for the specific use of their laborers? I'm no engineer, but I've done some construction work in the past and even I know that the underground parking structures have to be structurally sound before you can put a building on top of them. They don't have to be fully finished or have lines painted to be usable. I'm sure the workers would love to be able to park at their job site and everyone else would love to have them park somewhere besides the structure. Seems like a win-win to me.
2. Eco bus schedules. I would love to take the bus, but with my schedule, using the bus would make my eight-hour day into a 11-plus-hour day. Like me, most people who work for a living have a schedule that starts and ends on the hour (9-5, 2-10, etc.). Say my shift ends at 9 p.m. in Vail. No problem, get changed head up to the transportation center and ... wait for 50 minutes until the next Highway 6 bus comes.
Having major commuter route buses leave on the hour is silly, have them leave at 15 after so that they are convenient for people who actually work. You don't need to add buses, just tweak the schedules so they are more user friendly. I was at a public input meeting last year and suggested this to the ECO bus rep who was there. He thought it was a good idea, but his boss shot it down (no reason given).
Hope these suggestions help, let's continue to try and think outside the box.
I'm sure we can resolve these issues if we approach the problems with a “how can we make this happen” attitude rather than a “we can't do that” one.
Mark Hall
Eagle-Vail
I know the town of Vail is working on the problem and I read an article recently that they were making construction workers park at Golden Peak between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. While that is a start I think you will find that the workers will probably just change their start times so they can use the structure anyway. I don't blame them. Who wants to carry a load of tools from their truck halfway across town twice a day? It's going to get really bad this winter, so here's an idea or two for the town to kick around:
1. The three main sites that are employing these workers are the Solaris, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton Projects. Know there is still a lot of work to be done, but all three sites have copious amounts of underground parking. Solaris' web site says approximately 300 spaces, and based on number of rooms I would guess that Four Seasons has 150-plus and the Ritz another 100 or so.
Why can't the town issue conditional temporary occupancy certificates for the parking garages on these sites for the specific use of their laborers? I'm no engineer, but I've done some construction work in the past and even I know that the underground parking structures have to be structurally sound before you can put a building on top of them. They don't have to be fully finished or have lines painted to be usable. I'm sure the workers would love to be able to park at their job site and everyone else would love to have them park somewhere besides the structure. Seems like a win-win to me.
2. Eco bus schedules. I would love to take the bus, but with my schedule, using the bus would make my eight-hour day into a 11-plus-hour day. Like me, most people who work for a living have a schedule that starts and ends on the hour (9-5, 2-10, etc.). Say my shift ends at 9 p.m. in Vail. No problem, get changed head up to the transportation center and ... wait for 50 minutes until the next Highway 6 bus comes.
Having major commuter route buses leave on the hour is silly, have them leave at 15 after so that they are convenient for people who actually work. You don't need to add buses, just tweak the schedules so they are more user friendly. I was at a public input meeting last year and suggested this to the ECO bus rep who was there. He thought it was a good idea, but his boss shot it down (no reason given).
Hope these suggestions help, let's continue to try and think outside the box.
I'm sure we can resolve these issues if we approach the problems with a “how can we make this happen” attitude rather than a “we can't do that” one.
Mark Hall
Eagle-Vail
