The Salt Lake Organizing Committee is pushing the Mountain Venue Express for Games’ visitors with tickets to attend mountain events during the Salt Lake Winter Games. Recliner-coach buses will transport passengers from downtown Salt Lake City to all five mountain venues, from Ogden to Snowbasin Ski Area and from Provo to Soldier Hollow, at a cost of $20 round trip. But the price will be discounted to $10 on days when Interstate 80 will be especially taxed by a combination of events occurring simultaneously around Park City and Midway, Feb. 9, 12 and 21. To make the trip more appealing video of the previous day’s highlights will be shown and snacks will be available.
SLOC will be replicating Sydney’s example and assign some colourful, quick-witted characters to the elevated lifeguard-type chairs along walkways used by Games visitors. It should make the long distances between competitions or entertainment sites less tiring.
It seems that Salt Lake City officials may reconsider their decision to deny demonstration permits to the Utah Animal Rights Coalition and the Citizens activist Network during the Salt Lake Games. This follows a hearing Friday with Utah mayor’s chief of staff, Jay Magure. The Citizens Activist Network, a confederation of various community groups, wants to demonstrate near the Olympic medals plaza downtown. Police and transportation officials asked that the application be turned down because of worries that the protesters would impede heavy foot traffic. But Assistant Police Chief Scott Folsom said that if there was no impinging on the street or sidewalk, their concerns were largely satisfied. The Utah Animal Rights Coalition filed applications for five areas, some in high-traffic areas near the downtown venues or in areas not under city control. Magure tried to find a spot for them and directed city officials to examine a spot to the northwest of the medals plaza. He said he’ll make his decision based solely on logistics and safety early next week.
And finally, Olympic transportation officials are trying to persuade truckers to avoid northern Utah highways during the Games. Information about restrictions on the movement of hazardous-material shipments near Olympic venues appeared last month in an obscure trade publication.
