Spokesperson says UDOT is prepared for potential disasters

SALT LAKE CITY — Is UDOT prepared for a possible road disaster like the one in Philadelphia where a portion of I-95 collapsed?

The Utah Department of Transportation has a lot of experience with major repairs over the years.

Spokesman John Gleason says the UDOT staff trains for all sorts of issues every year. This training includes things like what to do in case of an earthquake.

“Specifically, we have the GreatShakeOut where we have our regions that are communicating with each other,” Gleason says. “We talk about these scenarios. (Like) if there’s an earthquake … What the damage could look like.”

Along with the annual training, Gleason says UDOT immediately made repairs to several bridges following the Magna earthquake in 2020. Also, he says UDOT dealt with a tanker fire on US-6. This fire shut down the road in Springville Canyon for almost a week while the highway was fixed from heat damage.

According to Gleason, UDOT works with several agencies around the state in preparation for potential disasters.

“We work with law enforcement and with our signal timing group out of the traffic operation center to adjust timing or to provide an alternate route,” he says.

Devin Oldroyd contributed to this story.

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