Transportation officials have been warning Utahns for months about gridlock, traffic jams and congestion, but the first hours of the Olympics in Salt Lake City proved to be somewhat less than horrendous.
The reason for that, according to Utah Department of Transportation spokeswoman Amanda Covington, is that motorists have heeded the warnings of transportation officials.
"It went better than expected because people listened," Covington said. "It has a potential to continue to do well only if people continue to listen."
Utah motorists are doing the right thing by taking public transportation, carpooling and allowing extra time, she said.
"It's a good sign," she said. "Continue to do what you're doing."
The Utah Transit Authority transported 32,000 spectators to the Olympic opening ceremonies Friday night. Spokesman Kris McBride said park-and-ride lots were well-utilized Friday evening, with most of them filling to capacity. And McBride said park-and-ride lots are the best way for Olympic spectators to get downtown. TRAX will quickly fill to capacity, he said.
Saturday proved him right, with many TRAX passengers waiting as two or three trains passed by packed with people. UTA is adding trains to TRAX to help transport the masses, McBride said, but people shouldn't rely on TRAX.
"(TRAX riders) are going to find a wait during the peak times," he said.
The downtown area saw quite a bit of foot traffic Saturday, with several concerts and other activities. Salt Lake Police Sgt. Fred Louis said a lot of people were downtown, but there weren't any major incidents. Traffic was flowing well Saturday and things seemed to be going as well as Salt Lake police had expected, he said. Most of those in the downtown area said they took public transportation to get there.
Outside of downtown, traffic was also flowing fairly smoothly. Covington said I-80 was "looking good" and that motorists were carpooling as they had been advised.
Covington said that although things are going well, the Olympics are just getting started.
"This is still not indicative of how the entire Games will go," she said.
She noted that Saturday's traffic didn't have the normal commuters that weekdays see and encouraged commuters to alter work schedules, carpool and telecommute.
"This is the time to make sure that those are implemented," she said. "Don't get too confident. Now is the time to form your habits and stick with them."
E-mail: lculler@desnews.com