When the wildflowers are peaking, traffic jams can be a problem at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

"Out on that 21/2-mile gravel road in Albion Basin, sometimes you have a thousand to 1,300 cars a day. It's like a parade, dusty, with pedestrians and cyclists, too," said U.S. Forest Service official Carol Majeske.

Sharing concern about the impact of that traffic load with people in and around Alta, the Forest Service secured a Federal Transit Administration grant to study summer transportation issues and possible alternatives for dealing with them.

But not being transportation experts, the Forest Service turned for assistance to another federal agency -- the National Park Service, which had developed a shuttle system to handle the masses of visitors flocking each year to Zion National Park in southwestern Utah.

Starting last fall, but really kicking into gear this past week (especially today, the peak day of the Wasatch Wildflower Festival), the Park Service specialists and their private-sector partners from David Evans Associates have been doing traffic surveys for what is being dubbed the Albion Basin Alternative Transportation Feasibility Study.

"The study will assist in collecting baseline data to better understand visitation, traffic patterns on the road and trail system, and how to preserve recreation opportunities, while considering sustainability of sensitive natural resources," said Salt Lake District Ranger Cathy Kahlow.

An open house to educate the public about the study will be conducted from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday at Our Lady of the Snow Center in Alta.

Majeske said a voluntary shuttle van service instituted in 2006 seems to have been helpful in preventing traffic from "impinging on the wildflowers of Albion Basin."

But without the data provided by the survey, officials don't know if it is the best recourse for protecting the canyon's resources or if other models might be developed that could improve conditions in Little Cottonwood and other Wasatch Front canyons also facing traffic issues.

"We don't know how long people stay, or what's important to them," Majeske said. "What kind of experience do they want to protect? We hope that by engaging in discussion and coming up with alternatives, an answer may rise to the top."

She does not expect any answers soon. "This is just a first step in what might be extended planning. We're probably talking a decade," Majeske said. "But we know Albion Basin is important to people, so we want to employ the Park Service's expertise to look at options for managing traffic."

She also is in the early stages of launching a similar study in Mill Creek Canyon. Data collection for that study is likely to take place next summer.

mikeg@sltrib.com