Hi from AZ. . . we opted for the 'quick' way home from Calgary to PHX. & while the drive thru Montana & Idaho was scenic & no problem, I-15 past that Salt Lake area was NOT FUN ! Almost a hundred miles, from Brigham City to Provo of urban traffic. I mean, stop & go & bumper to bumper on SATURDAY afternoon. I can only imagine what a week day must be like ! Construction as well made that trip an absolute 'Never Again' ! We went North on US 93 thru the 'middle of nowhere' NV, and will always use that route in the future. . . .regards, Craig

Weekday late mornings are much easier. Everyone's at work.

We too changed over to HWY93 because of Salt Lake City.

We drove thru there coming from Idaho and heading for Torrey and sailed right thru. Probably late morning-early afternoon. That was in late June. There may have been some local event that drew a lot of traffic in your case. Looking at a map there doesn't seem to be any quick way around SLC/Provo that avoids I-15, anyway.

Our son and his family live and work in SLC. We visit frequently. It is always the "lowlight" of our trip once we get into the urban areas starting at about Spanish Fork. Horrid traffic, many rude drivers, and never ending construction. The city streets are just as bad, and their traffic engineers come up with a new experimental plan every couple of years that confuse the heck out of non-residents. Try it sometime in a snowstorm and you'll likely have a nervous break down.

It is a nightmare and we have started avoiding SLC and I-15 at all cost. Our daughter lives in the Hurricane UT area and we now use US-93 from I-84 to NV-319/UT-56 and back on I-15 at Cedar City. The ONLY time we will take I-15 through SLC now is if we have to make a stop in the area. Even the Las Vegas rush hour traffic is NOT as bad as SLC at any given time.

I-15 thru Utah | Good Sam Community

2oldman
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
Weekday late mornings are much easier. Everyone's at work.
Harvard
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
We too changed over to HWY93 because of Salt Lake City.
agesilaus
Explorer III
Aug 11, 2015
We drove thru there coming from Idaho and heading for Torrey and sailed right thru. Probably late morning-early afternoon. That was in late June. There may have been some local event that drew a lot of traffic in your case. Looking at a map there doesn't seem to be any quick way around SLC/Provo that avoids I-15, anyway.
TucsonJim
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
Our son and his family live and work in SLC. We visit frequently. It is always the "lowlight" of our trip once we get into the urban areas starting at about Spanish Fork. Horrid traffic, many rude drivers, and never ending construction. The city streets are just as bad, and their traffic engineers come up with a new experimental plan every couple of years that confuse the heck out of non-residents. Try it sometime in a snowstorm and you'll likely have a nervous break down.
The_Texan
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
It is a nightmare and we have started avoiding SLC and I-15 at all cost. Our daughter lives in the Hurricane UT area and we now use US-93 from I-84 to NV-319/UT-56 and back on I-15 at Cedar City. The ONLY time we will take I-15 through SLC now is if we have to make a stop in the area. Even the Las Vegas rush hour traffic is NOT as bad as SLC at any given time.
2oldman
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
agesilaus wrote:
there doesn't seem to be any quick way around SLC/Provo that avoids I-15, anyway.
No, there isn't. Best to avoid weekends, have a good breakfast and relieve yourself before embarking.

I've been driving this route for 10 years and actually surprised to hear construction is STILL going on. Last year it wasn't anything significant.
mockturtle
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
SLC is my absolute LEAST favorite city to drive through. So I don't, even if it means going hundreds of miles out of my way. Time is not an issue for me, however. :)
agesilaus
Explorer III
Aug 11, 2015
mockturtle wrote:
SLC is my absolute LEAST favorite city to drive through. So I don't, even if it means going hundreds of miles out of my way. Time is not an issue for me, however. :)

St Louis is much worse than SLC. At least they keep the highway surface in good condition in Utah. But St Louis is just about the only city I will drive far out of the direct path to avoid. Chicago, NYC, Boston, DC and LA are probably worse but they never are in the path that I'm driving. Tho I did drive around DC to get to Cherry Hill.
missourijan
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
We always try to hit any large city in the morning between 10 & 11 any day of the week. We have gone through Salt Lake, Albuquerque, OKC, Amarillo, Houston and many others at this time and it is usually the best. Weekdays, they are at work and before the lunch rush, Weekends, they aren't out yet. This does NOT apply to cities like Los Angeles or Atlanta, there is NO good time to go through those traffic nightmare places, that's when we drive out of our way to avoid.
n7bsn
Explorer
Aug 11, 2015
We went through in late April (south) and early May (north)
South was mid-day week-day and no issues.
North was "during church" on Sunday and it was even lighter.

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