National Park Service at Zion National Park held a public online meeting to present a proposal for the redesign of Zion Canyons' south entrance to improve access from Springdale, Utah.
Parks service representatives held the meeting to provide the opportunity for public comment and input, according to the meeting notice.
"This is the first part of a multi-step process to determine how we should plan for the future of Zion National Park's south entrance and south campground," Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh said in a May 17 National Park Service news release.
Improvements at the entrance is part of the park service's "larger, ongoing visitor use planning effort," Bradybaugh added in the release.
"It builds on our collaborative planning process giving park visitors, neighbors, and other stakeholders an opportunity to learn and provide important information for our decision-making process," he said in the release.
Improvements the park service is considering include the redefinition of the Zion Canyon pedestrian entrance, realigning the roadway accessed from the south entrance fee station to the visitor center, expansion of the park's shuttle maintenance facility to include electrical vehicle charging and intuitive wayfinding pedestrian trails at the south entrance area.
The open comment period is scheduled through June 17. Anyone who would like to share comments online and learn more about the project may visit the public comment area.
Comments can also be mailed to the superintendent, ATTN: Zion Canyon South Entrance Redesign, Zion National Park, 1 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale, UT 84767. Comments must be postmarked by June 17.
The entrance redesign follows an announcement by the park service in February 2021 that Zion National Park was approved for a $33 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to replace its aged shuttle bus fleet with battery-electric transit buses.
