Here's the dilemma for skiers and Sundance Film Festival attendees: Drive Parleys Canyon in the slow lane, and you get stuck behind semitrailer trucks. The fast lane, to some, is a little too fast.
The center lane? Clogged up by 10 -15 foot stretches of potholes, some as much as two feet in diameter, according to frequent drivers.
"These are tire-swallowing and repeated in sequence," said Asa Kelley, a Deer Valley resident who works in Salt Lake City.
He calls the issue a safety concern, especially for people who don't drive the canyon often, such as the folks headed to the slopes and the film festival. Beyond that is the question of why the Utah Department of Transportation has let the road get so bad, Kelley said.
UDOT officials say they try to fix the potholes as soon as possible after they appear. Monday, a crew was laying a cold-condition asphalt mix to help seal the holes. Several potholes have already been fixed this year, but new ones have occurred as a result of the recent series of storms that hit the valley, said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton.
The storms cause the pavement to freeze. When the sun hits the road, the moisture on its surface melts and seeps beneath the asphalt. The next time the road freezes, the water underneath will expand, lifting and breaking the road surface.
Easton said any fixes to broken asphalt this winter will only be temporary. A more permanent pavement will be poured this spring when temperatures are more ideal, he said. "Basically we're patching as the potholes appear," he said. "The problem is, once they start appearing, they get big in a few hours."
His advice is for motorists to avoid the middle lane, especially after winter storms. UDOT has no data showing an increase in accidents, but is aware the potholes can cause car damage, Easton said.
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com