At the ODA, we are very focused on making sure the Games benefit the area and local community in the long term. In Park City there were constant reminders of the success and impact of the Games: the flags lining either side of the main road up to the Olympic Park are still proudly displayed; there are plaques dotted around detailing where the events happened; there were runs that were used for events during the Games that you could ski or snowboard; and you could buy Salt Lake City 2002 programmes in the shops. Even in the bus station there were framed front pages of the local newspaper during the Games.
A plaque of events held at Park City:
The main transport development for Park City was the new bus station and the free shuttle bus that ran between several of the resorts and the main tourist areas.
Talking to locals in Utah, the Games has had a profound effect on their daily lives. My skiing instructor had done very well from the increased number of tourists post-2002 and was telling me how much he loved the Olympic and Paralympic Games. (However, he did kind of ruin it, because when I said I worked for London 2012, he assumed we were hosting the Winter Games too. I mean, can you imagine how many snow machines we would need?!)
One taxi driver I spoke to said they had all been incredibly worried about the ensuing chaos they imagined on the roads with the Olympic Route Network (ORN), only to find that it was actually... absolutely fine. In terms of the long-term sporting benefits, everyone was (and still is) clambering over themselves to learn how to ski.
Of course I didn’t spend the whole time asking questions about Transport and how people generally found 2002. But when I wasn’t thinking about how a UK equivalent of Park City, like Weymouth, will be totally transformed, I had a brilliant holiday, even though it turned out to be a bit of a busman’s.
Find out more about London 2012's Transport plans
