Prepare for delays on I-15 as Utahns leave for holiday weekend

SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Department of Transportation is urging drivers to prepare for some delays on Interstate 15 Thursday with drivers traveling out of town for their holiday plans.

UDOT is forecasting up to 10-minute delays on:

• NB I-15 in Salt Lake County between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• SB I-15 in Salt Lake County between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• NB I-15 in Davis County between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

UDOT Spokesperson Mitch Shaw spoke with Inside Sources Wednesday, encouraging people to leave in the morning or after 7 p.m. if possible.

“If you can leave before the afternoon, great,” Shaw said. “If you can leave… after 7 p.m., that’ll help not only you, but it’ll help everybody travelling.”

Shaw said it’s normal for more people to leave and return on the same days when the Fourth of July or a similar holidays fall on a Friday or a Monday, like this year.

He said most drivers should be able to steer clear of major delays when they return on Sunday, except for those travelling westbound on U.S. 6 near Wellington.

UDOT is forecasting up to 50-minute delays on that stretch of road between 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, with peak delays expected between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The department said they are pausing construction work across the state to help ease congestion, but Shaw warned not all project areas will have all lanes open.

That includes U.S. 6 near Wellington, which is currently down to one lane in each direction. I-15 near 5600 South in Roy will also remain reduced to three lanes in each direction.

You can get live traffic updates every ten minutes on the 9’s on Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

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