An extension of the Bangerter Highway?

Mark Tesoro, Herald Publisher
Posted 7/12/19

Mark Tesoro column for July 12, 2019

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An extension of the Bangerter Highway?

Posted

Fresh air, freedom, fun and fast drivers. For residents of Evanston and surrounding areas, we enjoy getting down to the city (Salt Lake, Ogden, the Wasatch Front). And one thing we all know is that once down there, the speed of everything is on a different level than we are used to in our small towns of southwest Wyoming, particularly the traffic.

Drive any four-lane road in the city and it’s like driving a raceway. Redwood Road, State Street, Bangerter Highway. Posted speed limits on some of those roads are as high as 55 with traffic often traveling well beyond that.

So I guess it’s a bit shocking and irritating, not to mention frustrating, when many drivers think of our roadways in Evanston as an extension of the Bangerter Highway. 

Highway 89 by North Elementary or Highway 150 by the state hospital are notorious roads for speeders, as well as Front Street and Harrison Drive. In front of North Elementary, some people drive more than 50 mph in a 30! It’s a school zone and although the lights aren’t always flashing (they weren’t a couple of weeks ago, but they were the last time I drove by), plenty of kids attend summer school or the summer lunch program. We have got to get these speeders to slow down. 

Anyone who’s lived in this area knows that the stretch of I-80 by Echo reservoir is a favorite place for law enforcement to catch speeders. Speed through there and you’re likely to end up with a ticket. 

As a community we welcome travelers and visitors; they help our economy by filling up at the gas stations, getting something to eat and even spending some time in our shops and stores. But we shouldn’t be known as a raceway for speeders to get through town on their way to Bear Lake, the Uintas, Wyoming Downs or the Gorge. We should do the same in our town — it should be known far and wide that you can’t speed through our town. The last thing we want is for someone to get hit by a speeding driver, especially a child. 

We tip our hats to local law enforcement — Uinta County Sheriff”s Office, Evanston Police Department and Highway Patrol  — for their efforts to curb the speeding. It’s tough (impossible) to be everywhere at one time, but the high traffic times of Friday afternoon and Sunday should be focus times. Some communities have permanent radar speed signs, ones that even flash red and blue if you’re speeding. Something like that might work to slow them down. Or maybe decoy police cars parked throughout the summer in key areas. One way or another, we’ve got to get drivers to slow down.