SALT LAKE CITY

Local events expected to bring heavy weekend traffic in downtown Salt Lake City

Sep 5, 2025, 7:20 PM | Updated: 7:36 pm

A TRAX train arrives at the downtown station in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.Local event...

A TRAX train arrives at the downtown station in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.(Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

(Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY — This weekend is packed with local events, and they are expected to have a big impact on weekend traffic in downtown Salt Lake City.

It’s opening weekend for the Utah State Fair, but it’s also falling on the same weekend as the Greek Festival, the University of Utah Football Game, a Twilight Concert series event and more.

Related: 49th annual Salt Lake Greek Festival to be the biggest, fattest ‘this side of the Mississippi’

Combined, these events are expected to bring over 350,000 people to the city this weekend.

With the extra pedestrians on the roads, drivers are cautioned to be extra vigilant.

Preparing for the weekend traffic

UDOT Public Relations Director John Gleason said if you have to be somewhere at a certain time, leave early.

“Plan that extra time. It’s not going to take you the normal 20 minutes that it would take you to leave from your house to get to this event. You have to understand there’s going to be traffic.”

Gleason said they will be monitoring traffic and will try to make things smoother.

“If they need to adjust any signal timing, they’re going to give the direction of travel that’s seeing the most traffic. They’re going to give that extra green signal time to get people into and out of those events,” Gleason said. 

Gavin Gustafson with the Utah Transit Authority said if you want to avoid traffic completely, you have plenty of options. Between TRAX and buses, you can easily make your way in and out of downtown.

“Riding transit is relatively cheap and usually a lot cheaper than parking. Not to mention all the time and hassle you’ll save by not having to look for a parking spot,” Gustafson said.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.

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Local events expected to bring heavy weekend traffic in downtown Salt Lake City