How to Know Which Roads are Being Closed for Construction in Utah and Why

The Stimulus plan provided means for much needed work to be done on Utah roads. In Salt Lake County it seems like they decided to do road construction on every major vein all at once. It is impossible to time how long it takes to be to an appointment because you never know how long the road construction will hold you up. It’s a reminder of the road construction for the 2002 Winter Olympics. You could drive five exits and not be allowed off of the freeway. Okay, UDOT (The Utah Department of Transportation) learned a little bit since then and though it seems they have not shut down multiple exits at once they have made it harder to drive around. They have however, given us tools to know educate ourselves as to what they are doing, when they are doing it and why.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Visit UDOT’s webpage at www.udot.utah.gov to view their road construction guide. Click on the last yellow tab on the top of the page that reads “Projects and Studies.” The UDOT Projects and Studies page has information on everything from what projects are under construction to what projects they are thinking about taking on in the future. When you click on the blue “Projects Under Construction” hyper link for example you will be able to narrow the search down to your area in Utah.

2. When you drill down on the construction site you’re interested in you get the low down on everything about the project. What they are repairing or building, why, when they are going to be done and it also gives you the opportunity to comment on the project.

3. So what if you’re not super familiar with your area? On the right hand corner of most any page you click on there will be an orange and yellow construction barrel that reads “Know Where Know When.” This shows you a map (you can enlarge it if you need to) of your area. Using this map allows you to view all of the construction that is going on. If you don’t recognize some of the street names in text this map lets you actually see where they are to avoid possible slow-downs while you’re out.

[hradcliffe]

on 9/20/2009 Great information. Road construction is such a pain.