As Utah grows, so does its transportation infrastructure and its traffic. There are several resources available for the traffic-curious that may not be familiar to the everyday driver. Jason Watson, Transportation Department manager at FOCUS, points to online tools from UDOT that help inform not only drivers, but also businesses, residents, and many others who could be impacted by the changing traffic landscape in Utah.

Start with UDOT

According to Jason, the most useful place to begin is the Utah Department of Transportation website. “UDOT has a bunch of maps and other information people can use,” he said. “If there is a major freeway coming through or a corridor study happening, you can usually find conceptual plans online.” Projects like the West Davis Corridor, Highway 89, and Mountain View Corridor all have dedicated project pages. These often include planning maps, environmental studies, and projected traffic volumes. “It is high-level conceptual information, but it gives people an idea of where something might be planned in the future,” Jason explained. For developers, this can be especially important. Sometimes a landowner has heard a rumor about a future freeway alignment. These public maps can confirm whether something is officially planned and roughly where it may go.

Beyond future projects, UDOT also provides real-time tools that are surprisingly robust. There are live traffic cameras across the state that allow users to check freeway conditions before heading out the door. Travel time estimates can show how long it will take to get from one city to another. Traffic volume maps reveal how many vehicles use a road each day. “If you are getting ready to go home from work, you can pull up a camera and see if traffic is backing up,” Jason said. “There are travel times you can check. There are traffic volume maps. A lot of people don’t know those resources exist.”

UDOT also offers a mobile traffic app that provides crash alerts and congestion updates while you are on the go. For those who want to go beyond commute planning, there are more technical resources available. Public maps show roadway classifications, right-of-way lines, and mileposts. Traffic counts are posted online. Some project pages include estimated future traffic volumes based on environmental studies and corridor analyses.

Looking Deeper Into the Data

When a new freeway is proposed, engineers conduct extensive modeling to estimate how many vehicles will use it. Those numbers are often shared during the planning process, even though they remain projections until the road is built. “Obviously, we do not know exactly how much traffic will be there until it opens, but they do show anticipated volumes during the study phase,” Jason said. Access to this information helps residents understand growth in their communities. It helps developers make informed decisions. It helps commuters plan their day. Jason believes the biggest opportunity going forward is to keep those public resources up to date as projects evolve. “As a project gets more defined, it would be helpful to see that reflected online,” he said. “If it changes from two lanes to four lanes or if the alignment shifts slightly, that updated information helps people.”

For the traffic curious, the takeaway is simple. The data is out there. From conceptual freeway alignments to live camera feeds, Utah provides a transparent look at how transportation systems are planned and operated.

To partner with FOCUS Consulting, contact our team at info@focus-es.com or (801) 352-0075.