Thanksgiving weekend is usually one of the year’s busiest travel days and this year is no exception. UDOT, the Utah Department of Transportation, is expecting a 25 percent increase from a normal day on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
John Gleason is UDOT’s public information officer. He says congestion is more about the time people decide to leave than the roads they take.
“If you can leave earlier in the day before noon on Tuesday and Wednesday, or even later in the evening after 7, 8 o’clock at night, you’re going to avoid some of that peak commute time,” he says.
UDOT has several road construction projects underway. Even though most of them will be done before the holiday weekend, Gleason recommends drivers to be vigilant, especially on I-70 near Richfield and S.R. 9 in Springdale.
“So any time you’re driving through a work zone whether you see construction workers out there or not you always want to slow down and be extra aware of your surroundings,” he says.
Gleason says I-15 heading south near the point of the mountain is usually an area where we see extra congestion and drivers could expect delays up to 45 minutes especially on Wednesday afternoon.