For the first time since the Utah Department of Transportation has been keeping records, traffic has increased during a one-year period on every interstate, federal and state highway in southern Utah.
Yet the highest traffic volume of any reporting station in southern Utah is a mere pittance compared with the number of vehicles traveling along the Wasatch Front - only about 7 percent.The station with the heaviest traffic in Utah was on I-15 at the 1700 South overpass in Salt Lake City, recording an average of 165,228 vehicles daily during the most recent 12-month period surveyed. The heaviest traffic in southern Utah was south of St. George, also on I-15, with an average of 12,487 vehicles daily.
Leading all highways in southern Utah with the highest percentage increase was U.S. 191 north of Moab, up 14.8 percent. The highest percentage increase among state highways was U-14 east of Cedar City, up 10.1 percent.
I-70 west of Green River led interstate highway recording stations with an increase of 12.2 percent. The only other reporting station on I-70 was near Richfield, with an increase of 8.7 percent. Those stations recorded average vehicles per day of 3,580 and 2,951, respectively.
As a general rule, the farther south one travels on I-15 in rural Utah the heavier the traffic.