SALT LAKE CITY — The days between Memorial Day and Labor Day have been called “The 100 deadliest days” on Utah roads.
With the Labor Day weekend coming up, Utahns will be seeking their last summer getaway on our roads.
Fewer people are flying due to the coronavirus pandemic and more are taking "staycations” this year.
“We do expect a lot of traffic this weekend,” said UDOT spokesman John Gleason.
Overall traffic flows have been down this year due to the pandemic and UDOT has construction projects from northern Utah to St. George.
“In Box Elder County we’re down to one lane in both directions,” Gleason said. “The express lanes in Davis, in Weber County and Point of the Mountain.”
Work crews will actually be idle this weekend, but large pieces of construction equipment, orange barrels and divided lanes are still going to be in place.
UDOT officials say you need to be aware of that and plan ahead.
“We are taking a break from all of the construction work but those lane restrictions and traffic shifts, reduced speed limits, they are all still in place,” Gleason said. “So you’ve got a pay attention and stay focused through those work zones.”
Those UDOT work zones stretch from north to south and many other points in between.
They could cause a slowdown in your weekend travel plans.
Gleason says, whenever possible, give yourself some extra time to get where you’re going to lessen the stress and hopefully make your getaway a memorable one, for all the right reasons.
“There’s so much going on in the world right now -- social, family, health issues and so the distractions are understandable, but when you’re behind the wheel you’ve got to focus on the road,” Gleason said. “Get to where you’re going safely, make sure your family and friends get to where they’re going safely as well.”
Utah Highway Patrol troopers will be out in force over the holiday weekend and they’ll pay close attention to the work zones.
Even though there’s no work going on, speeders in a marked construction zone will be ticketed, and those type of speeding tickets can be very expensive.
