U.S. Seeks to Cut Grand Canyon Park’s Traffic

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced a government plan Friday that aims to eliminate 80% of the 1.5 million carloads of tourists that enter Grand Canyon National Park each year by forcing most of them to use mass transit.

People staying at hotels or camps inside the park and those traveling along Arizona Highway 64 would still be allowed to drive in, but others would have to leave their vehicles in nearby towns or at a massive parking lot to be constructed outside park boundaries.

At the canyon on Friday, Babbitt announced transit options that include diesel-powered light rail cars and buses that run on electricity or methanol. The National Park Service wants to ban nearly all cars from the park by the summer of 2000.

“The park’s roads and facilities in the developed areas were never designed to handle the current volume of vehicles,” said Robert Arnberger, park superintendent.

The transportation proposal is part of a $350-million Park Service plan to improve the park for visitors, who numbered about 5 million last year. It includes building a central bus station and information center, improving employee housing and constructing an 11-mile bike trail.

Officials now must complete an environmental impact assessment.