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I would've rather seen the park service skip road maintenance on two weekdays and have 2 shifts of plow operations on Sat/Sun so the road could be open by 7-8am and be open to downhill traffic after dark.
I wonder if local businesses will actually see an uptick in revenue with the 7-days a week access or if the shortened hours will keep skiers away? I doubt I'll be doing many trips to Rainier for winter touring if they start threatening to ticket drivers who don't make it back to Longmire by 5.
The problem with 2 scheduled days of closure is that if it snows the road has to be plowed anyway; if it doesn't snow, the road is closed anyway. Then add closures due to bad weather, avalanche danger, and equipment problems that don't coincide with scheduled closures and you have, like last winter more like 4+ days of closure; openings become unpredictable; people stay away more and more; gate receipts drop, demand for openings drop; but the roads still have to be plowed and LEOs still have to be on duty because the road from the entrance to Longmire is kept open excepting very unusual circumstances. I just don't see closures and limited hours saving much money but rather decreasing visitor days (= citizen satisfaction with park opts). The park maintained one of its largest staffing during the closures last winter; the only thing that could have been saved is some mileage on vehicles.
Winter is a slow time for gateway communities with little profit making, but regular visitation does help pay for overhead costs, helps keep service employees employed (and in the community--otherwise they have to move and there is a labor shortage), and the more visitation & fun the more people come thru; the businesses realize this but it matters not to them whether their customers are people looking for 2-4 hours of snowshoeing, skiing, snow play, sightseeing, or all day bc endeavors.
