Cedar Point revs up local economy

It's good news, good news, good news for the city's most famous business resident, and everybody else. Cedar Point's "Golden Pass" campaign — a season pass for this year and next year — appears to have been an enormous success. The company isn't disclosing how many families bought in, but the traffic heading to the park this fall is a clear indication it was tens of thousands, or more, buying up the opportunity to visit the park any day they want.We don't pretend to know, for sure, what marketing strategy was dominant when the brains at Cedar Fair, the park's parent company, came up with this deal of the century. There likely is something in the math, however, that told them, more visits more restaurant meals, more souvenirs, more hotel rooms sold, more camp sites occupied, more upgrades, more families, more people. It all adds up to more profits for the park and more prosperity for the community.But, oh my, that traffic. We've heard some visitors were stuck in long lines long before ever getting past the toll booths and seeing the Gatekeeper roller coaster at the park entrance. That traffic snarl has got to give park officials and city leaders a moment to contemplate what the park's enormous popularity means for the company and for the city, and what might need done to accommodate that status as a world class destination.Does the four-lane causeway have enough lanes to accommodate park attendance projections in future years? Where will all those visitors park? If Cedar Fair brought back the Cedar Point ferries downtown Sandusky dock, where would everyone park? If Cedar Fair opted to build a $50 million monorail system in the bay and along the lakefront, where would everybody park? They know something about rides and rails. Can parking outposts be developed with shuttle services to and from the entrance gates? Will the Butler Street ramp/Cleveland Road and U.S. 6 roadways leading to the causeway be enough to accommodate the park's popularity?Nobody likes a traffic jam. But it presents a series of questions and challenges that far exceed the frustration that comes with being stuck in traffic, and locals, generally, know how to avoid getting stuck. Those questions and those challenges should be met with collaboration, imagination and a willingness to think in new and modern ways to solve a big problem (but a good one to have): Where's everyone going to park?An overhead drone camera shows traffic backed up on the Cedar Point Causeway on Oct. 5.