Driving on I-80 West

[KiYi-Ute]

Why do people have such a hard time driving on 80 West between 13th East and State? I’ve come to expect 2-3 accidents per week on my morning commute to work just within those boundaries. Most weeks there’s even a wreck coming the opposite direction at the end of the day. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle.

Are people just distracted and in a rush in the mornings? Or just plain dumb? Driving ain’t hard. I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I saw that SLC had the second worst drivers in the country.

End rant.

Go Utes!

[utefansince79]

I-15 Northbound north of 90th South is a problem spot too.  This is heading towards the exits for 72th South and I-215 with cars moving in and out of the exit lanes and seems there is a fender bender of some sort a few times a week when we reach that section on our afternoon commute home.

 

[ladyinred]

I hate to say it because I know it’s Merica and stuff, but maybe they need to lower the speed limit in this section of I-80 between the Parley’s on/off ramp all the way through to the I-15 ramps. There are just way to many people flying through there like a bat out of hell considering how many cars are merging on and off in such a short stretch.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I agree with you that driving this stretch is sketchy, and not just in the morning.

[FtheY]

Yeah, tough one to call. 

Just don’t drop the speed limits so low like they are on. I-5 out of Seattle. Might as well just walk at that point. 

[PorterRockwell]

Here’s what I don’t get about people that use that stretch, and it’s not a speed limit issue perse. It’s people rolling down the on ramp at 45-55 mph and not using the on ramp to get up to freeway speeds. This forces everyone on the freeway to adjust to their slow merge speed.
IF people were doing the speed limit OR the speed of the traffic most of your concerns would be eliminated I believe I live in that area and drive it daily

[ladyinred]

But I can hardly get up to freeway speed on the ramp and far right lane if people are already merging over in front of me in order to get off at the next exit which is very close. Say getting on at 7th east where I usually am. I have to hurriedly move over because people in front of me are starting to slow when I’m trying to speed up, but then some guy in the middle lane going 80 (probably you) is not letting me get over to avoid them.

It’s just generally a chaotic stretch to drive. It doesn’t surprise me that there are a ton of accidents.

[PorterRockwell]

Valid observation. What I see happening is people failing to plan ahead to be in the proper lane to exit. I think a large part of it is SLC drivers wanting to be first and get there before the other guy.
I see it as people refusing to let people merge, trying to weave through traffics to get that edge etc. I’ve driven in Hawaii California Florida Washington DC Seattle Portland San Francisco Los Angeles etc. I don’t see the rudeness and selfishness in those cities I see here

I don’t think lowering the speed limit is going to solve the problem though people will drive the speed they are comfortable at
I know people that get on at 1300 e and get off st 700 e or state street. Why? Can’t save that much time?

[ladyinred]

Maybe it is more about enforcing the speed limit, but it generally feels like I’ve entered a NASCAR race just getting onto that stretch and going/coming home from say park city or the cottonwoods. (I don’t use it for my daily commute only weekends thank god, but it is still bad on the weekends.) I agree with you people are really selfish drivers, but it doesn’t help having so many exits clustered together.

I take the surface streets between 7th and 13th, doesn’t make sense to use 80 there imo. I would use it though going between 7th and parleys/foothill area exits.

[Utah]

I think the sense of entitlement attitude is very prevalent in Utah. It was shocking moving back to Utah and now that we’ve moved out…everyone is so much more pleasant out of state. 

I think the whole, “we are right and you are wrong” religious attitude leaks into other areas of life and creates a lot of jerks. 

[GameForAnyFuss]

I can’t speak for westbound traffic, but the problem eastbound is 100% about the 13th East off ramp. Everyone and their dog is trying to get off on 13th East, and they all want to turn left (head north into Sugarhouse), causing the off ramp to be backed up all the way onto the freeway. So you’ve got people in the right lane at a dead stop, thru traffic in the far left lane going 75, and the middle lane caught somewhere in between. What happens is people stuck in the right/middle lanes think “hey, I’m not getting off at 13th…I’m going to merge left where traffic is going faster”…and they get rear ended. I see an accident/near accident almost every day between 7th and 13th east from that exact thing.

[ladyinred]

Exactly. 13th east both directions is a major problem area.

I’m not sure I buy the idea that the traffic problems are due to Utah drivers and that they are somehow worse than other places because of the culture. Maybe you could say that for the suburbs, but where I live in Sugarhouse/9th and 9th area, everyone that has moved in on my street during the past 3-4 years is from out of state. Literally every single person. I feel like SLC is full of non-natives, a ton of out of state plates travelling on I-80 east and west and everywhere else in town, all exhibiting just the same behaviors as the Utah plates.

I don’t know, maybe it’s the elevation or something in the water that just makes people lose their minds on the freeway.

[noneyadb]

I believe the issue is called UDOT! Very poor planning for decades.

Just look at Bangerter Hey, all the money spent to build, then go threw and redesign intersections, now installing overpasses. Guess what a highway with a 65mph speed zone and hills every mile will create? 114th overpass, 90th overpass and immediately under railroad tracks, 78th overpass, 70th overpass, uphill to 62nd and then the bottleneck at 201. 

[ladyinred]

Valid point.

[Utahute72]

They can’t drive on I-80 between the Tooele exit and SLC either.  That road is closed to wrecks 2-3 times a year.