Vail to discuss changes to summer parking operations
Town task force is proposing keeping fees flat with changes to encourage alternative mobility options
Ali Longwell/Vail Daily
As Vail prepares for the winter season to wrap up on Sunday, April 21 with the closure of Vail Mountain, the town is starting to look ahead to summer.
On Tuesday, April 16, the Vail Town Council will receive recommendations from its Parking and Mobility Task Force for its parking operations this summer.
The bulk of the changes recommended by the task force are around enhancing safety as well as encouraging guests and residents to ditch single-occupancy vehicles in favor of alternative modes of transportation, like buses and bikes. The recommendations include no changes to the town’s summer parking fees and seasons.
The task force will be asking for council direction on the proposed program and changes during the Vail Town Council evening meeting.
What the task force would like to continue
Among the recommendations in the Tuesday Town Council packet, there are a few things the task force is recommending continue from last summer.
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This includes the operation dates, which it is recommending start on May 24 and run through Sept. 29. This follows a similar season of operation as 2023 when the town extended the season. Previously, Vail had started its summer parking season in July.
The winter 2023-24 parking program ends with Vail Mountain’s closure on Sunday, April 21.
Last year, the town increased its parking fees, which in the summer it only charges for overnight parking as well as a handful of event parking dates at Ford Park and the Soccer lot. This year, it is recommended that these fees remain the same as in 2023.
As proposed, this would mean the following fees would be applied in the summer:
- A $35 fee for cars parked overnight (from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m.) in the Vail Village and Lionshead parking structures as well as in the town’s West Vail oversized parking area (located near the West Vail Fire Station No. 3)
- A $15 fee for cars parked overnight (from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m.) in the Red Sandstone Garage with a max stay of 14 days
- A $15 parking fee for event parking at Ford Park and the Soccer lot, with 50 days of parking events
Like the previous few years, the town will continue offering free overnight employee passes to “qualified overnight employees,” the memo reads.
Additionally, the town offers a “Condo Pass” for qualifying property owners in the village core to allow free parking in the town’s parking structures during summer. Like last year, the town will sell this pass at $475.
While the task force is recommending these fees and passes remain consistent with summer 2023, the Town Council will be asked to set the final fees and pass options.
Recommended changes
In 2023, one of the Parking and Mobility Task Force’s main priorities was to focus on “messaging parking and transportation options to the community,” reads the Tuesday memo. This included promoting the use of transit and other non-single-occupancy-vehicle options.
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This summer, the group is recommending the same priorities as well as ways to double down and enhance its efforts from the previous year.
For example, in 2023, Vail trialed a carpool program during two of the Hot Summer Nights concerts. During the trial, vehicles with three or more passengers could park for free at Ford Park or the soccer lots (rather than pay the $15 fee). As this saw success, the task force — with support from the Ford Park User Group — is recommending it create a carpool program for the 50 paid parking events at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre.
It is proposed as a “FOUR+ FOR FREE” carpool program in which vehicles with more than four passengers receive free parking for those events. It also proposed creating incentives for people to bike to these events.
With a similar goal of encouraging alternative means of travel, the task force is recommending the town allocate $25,000 to create an incentive program.
This goal of the program would be to “promote bus ridership on ECO and Vail Transit when commuting to or in Vail, less the in-town bus,” with “strategic activation on days/peak travel times that historically have been overflow summer parking days.”
Reducing overflow parking days — from when the parking structures fill and parking is allowed on the frontage roads — has long been a priority of the town, regardless of the season. This is not only because it has a limited allowance based on the terms of its lease with the Colorado Department of Transportation, but also due to safety concerns.
This is another priority the task force is recommending the town dig deeper into this summer.
Per the lease, Vail can only use these frontage road spots for 60 days per calendar year.
While the frontage road parking is largely a winter use, Vail does have some high-traffic days in the summer that cause the same spillage onto the frontage roads. This primarily occurs during the town’s busier weekends like the GoPro Mountain Games and Fourth of July weekend.
In 2022, the town utilized this parking for 10 days during the summer. In 2023, the town had six days of overflow, with an average of 210 cars parking on the road those days. This included two days during the 2023 GoPro Mountain Games in June, two days over the Fourth of July weekend and a Saturday in September.
For summer 2024, the task force is recommending that the town pilot eliminating parking on the South Frontage Road between the Main Vail Roundabout and Vail Valley Drive (the stretch outside of the Vail Village Parking structure).
“Eliminating the use of this section would provide a safer experience for drivers and pedestrians during overflow days, as well as a clear shoulder for bike traffic,” reads the memo.
Should the pilot prove successful, the group is also recommending the town continue the trial into the 2024-25 winter season.
This recommendation comes with an estimated one-time budget of $12,500. These funds would be used to purchase signage and cones to delineate and communicate the proposed change.
The Vail Town Council will hear these recommendations — and give its direction — at the Tuesday, April 16 evening meeting. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. It takes place both in person at the Vail Town Hall (75 South Frontage Road) and virtually via Zoom. The meeting is also streamed live on the town’s Facebook page and High Five Media’s Live on Five. To learn more or provide comment, visit Vail.gov/Town-Council.
