Local drivers worry about the number of incidents and close calls on Mountain View Corridor

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah  – With population growth in Salt Lake County happening quickly, Mountain View Corridor offers another way around the valley. But the number of incidents and close calls on this major roadway has locals concerned.

“I just think, there’s enough accidents on the same roads, that it’s time to look at the safety precautions and you know, measures,” said driver Brittany Morazan.

“The street lights you come up on pretty quick if you don’t know the road well,” said driver Justin Clark about the highway. “I think there’s also a lot of confusion where the road is separated by land in between…because you have two lanes you have to pay attention to.”

For some living on the west side of the county, they tell ABC4 News they worry about driving on Mountain View Corridor.

“The speed limit changes in a lot of places. It will go like 50 up to 65 – which I think is also confusing.” Clark said. “So, my personal opinion is I think people don’t generally slow down where they’re supposed to be slowing down.”

“People run what they think is going to be a yellow light, but they don’t quite make it through, and the green light has already started,” said another driver Andrea Sorensen.

“People are running red lights…Those people speed through thinking, ‘Oh, I can make it and then they don’t,” Morazan said, who then noted her concern about turning lanes. “Especially on 126000 South, that left-hand turn that you’re supposed to yield and it’s such a big intersection that I think people think they’re going to turn left are going to make it, but you know those people are coming so fast, that’s where I have oftentimes seen accidents.”

The Utah Department of Public Safety reports around 150 crashes that happened on the Corridor last year.

“I’ve seen so many people run red lights there. That now I know to stop and slow down and wait a few seconds before I go,” Sorensen said.

She wishes the Utah Department of Transportation would add a longer delay time to red lights turning green.

Sorensen’s daughter just got her permit, and said she’s warned her daughter about the road.

“If you ever hit a red light here while you’re driving, and then it turns green, I want you to wait a few seconds before you go,” Sorensen said.

Locals said this is an on-going problem and they want change.

“I feel like one of the better things they can do is probably make it a uniform speed through there,” Clark said.

“Installing some more of those flashing lights that are way far ahead,” Sorensen said.

“I would like to see a study that looks at all the statistics and all of the accidents, what caused these accidents and see if there’s anything on their end that they can do to make it safer?” Morazan said about UDOT. “If they come back that no, there’s nothing they can really do, it is just driver error, then I would say it’s that education push.”

UDOT has a web page that teaches drivers how to navigate the Corridor and it’s long-term plan for the roadway.

John Gleason, a UDOT spokesperson, said the road is designed to follow national safety standards.

“We’ve gone above and beyond in a lot of different areas,” Gleason said. “Advanced warnings signals, additional signage and programmable signal heads. Just anything that we can do to make it as safe as it can possibly be.”

Driving can be dangerous, Gleason said. He cautions drivers to put away distractions and pay attention to the road.

“The results can be deadly and catastrophic if we take our focus off the road, there’s so many things that will divert your attention these days and we just have to put it all aside,” Gleason said. “When we see people running red lights, that is something that is so preventable and it’s frustrating, it’s heartbreaking and it’s devastating to all of these families that have to deal with a situation like this.”

Gleason said UDOT is looking into the data on this roadway. ABC4 News will continue to follow this story.