The snowplay tourists from the Valley aren't here yet, but will Flagstaff be any more ready for them this year than last when they do arrive?

Based on the most recent meeting of an ad hoc winter snowplay task force, the answer doesn't look encouraging.

That's because, as Larry Hendricks reported, the group has lots of good ideas but no authority or funds to implement them.

As a result, Flagstaff might again have to put up with gridlock in town and along the Highway 180 corridor that sends the wrong message to visitors about the delights of winter in our mountain town.

The problem has been exacerbated in recent winters as thousands of Phoenicians, lured by decent snowfall totals, have taken advantage of better highways and three-day holiday weekends to head north.

Once they arrive, they find that the number of legal parking spaces at Snowbowl and the handful of other authorized snowplay areas can't handle them all. With just 2,000 spaces and 5,000 cars, something has to give.

Usually, that means drivers simply pull off the side of the road in the Highway 180 corridor, creating more congestion as well as hazardous conditions for snowplayers.

Then, when it's time to go home, they all try to squeeze through Flagstaff at once, creating late-afternoon backups that sometimes last for hours.

The first way to unclog the roads would be to create more snowplay areas with parking.

The panel has talked about mounding up snow at relatively flat Fort Tuthill or along Lake Mary Road to snag northbound snowplayers before they even reach the city.

And there has been some mention of reopening the hill above Coconino High School to legal sledding, although city liability and management of the hill apparently remains a concern.

But the city and county have not added a single new play area in years, and NAU has effectively shut down the terraced slopes behind Kinsey School by installing permanent seating.

The Forest Service has hired outside management to regulate the Wing Mountain snowplay area by charging $10 a car but left sledders at Crowley Pit to fend for themselves.

The Snowbowl and the Flagstaff Nordic Center are often full to the brim on snowy weekends, and neither caters much to sledders and tubers.

So if supply is not being increased, then demand will have to be regulated. In the case of snowplayers from the Valley, that means broadcasting warnings that snowplay areas are full, posting signs and stationing traffic officers at key intersections. More maps with alternate routes through the city to the highway would certainly help thin out the tourists in the afternoon. And ideally, shuttle buses might ferry tourists from school parking lots to and from formal snowplay areas along Highway 180 that have parking lots and portable toilets.

All of the above is not only well-intentioned but feasible — given enough money. But these are lean financial times on the public and private fronts, and it's unlikely everything can be done at once. We'd suggest starting with some tourist maps and some electronic signs, along with some brochures that tout all the other ways to have winter fun in Flagstaff when the snowplay parking lots fill up.

As we have noted in this space before, tourism should leave a host community better when the tourists leave than before they arrive. To make that happen usually requires an up-front investment in some infrastructure and management tools. So far, however, it's been nothing but talk when it comes to snowplay gridlock, and we all know how much talk costs. Who will step forward and put their money where their mouth is?