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

2gypsies1
Explorer III
Aug 12, 2015
That's why we avoid interstates.
Skid_Row_Joe
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
RamblinManGA wrote:
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
It ALL depends on what time of day, and which direction you're headed through any known-to-be sometimes clogged/busy Interstate highway - anywhere in the Country.

If you want "bumper-to-bumper": in the middle-of-nowhere, drive I-10 Phoenix to Los Angeles almost anytime/any day of the week.

SLC is a breeze as contrasted with that!
lbrjet
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
We went through SLC mid week a few weeks ago and had no slowdowns at all. Luck of the draw I guess. Stayed at the SLC KOA a couple of nights, great campground.
cruiserjs
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
Lat May we had to make a family crisis trip from Phoenix to Calgary. In the past I have avoided SLC but in this case it seemed the most exoedient route. BUT, at keast north-bound We stayed in the HOV lane almost all the way thru' and had NO trouble/slow downs!!
Yes no RV this time but as long as there are 2 or more folks aboard you are legal!!
2oldman
Explorer II
Aug 12, 2015
missourijan wrote:
We always try to hit any large city in the morning between 10 & 11.
..Me too.

missourijan wrote:
This does NOT apply to cities like Los Angeles or Atlanta, there is NO good time to go through those traffic nightmare places,
If in doubt, I always check the traffic flow maps. Went from Riverside to Dockweiler Beach (LA) at 2pm on a Wednesday. No problem, but I wouldn't have wanted to be going east on the 105!

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