Comments about ‘U.S. 191 bridge to Moab to get $38M UDOT makeover’

Nice strategy...build a big bridge and then let bottlenecks require building out the rest of the road. I like it!

This is beyond annoying. Building bigger roads just increases traffic. It's a mathematical principle called Braess' Paradox.

The REAL problem is unfettered truck traffic running right through the middle of the only inhabitable land in hundreds of square miles. Land that happens to be one of the world's premier tourist attractions & a thriving community. Yeah, it's a good idea to keep expanding the pavement until it fills the Moab Valley :

The choice is always pitched as "we must do everything possible to facilitate traffic" when there is a perfectly acceptable alternative: force trucks to go around on interstates.

Great, another bridge to nowhere. lol

Its been my experience that UDOT is doing a awesome job in terms of traffic control and balancing the needs of communities needing the income from tourism along with that of local working commuters.

However I agree with WD above some truck traffic has indeed been overlooked. I work within the system of UDOT and know for a fact that they do read suggestions and input submitted to UDOT.gov so it is all our responsibility to voice our concerns.

My thought is to simply limit truck traffic to local deliveries only. This can be easily monitored by checking manifests on routine stops and weigh stations.

After a few fines they will learn to go around.

The new bridge is a good idea as well as widening the road to four lanes. The bridge planning takes somewhat less planning than road widening but will insure a safer transition and proper flow of traffic across the river.

No one wants to trade land for roads but 4 lanes is safer for every type of commute and in adverse weather conditions.

The Colorado River is one of the greatest barriers to travel in the US. In its course through Utah it can be crossed by car in only four places.

The shortest road route from Albuquerque to Salt Lake City, through Moab, is 618 miles. The Interstate alternatives "Care Taker" proposes would force trucks either to go through Denver, (978-mils), or Barstow (1247). A shortcut via US-93 would still be 993 miles. Another short cut, crossing at Page, would still be 786 miles, would force the trucks to cross the river on an even dicier two-lane bridge, and would route them through an even longer set of two-lane roads through congested canyons on US-89. Route trucks through Hite, and the trip is still 693 miles, still follows narrow roads through scenic areas, and still crosses a two-lane bridge.

Multiply any of those mileage differences by the roughly 2600 trucks a day that the article indicates use the Moab route, and you've got an awful lot of air pollution just to reduce traffic in one relatively short stretch of canyon.

Widening 191 is the only practical answer.