The Utah Department of Transportation apologized via video to drivers on westbound Interstate 80 who were stuck in gridlock traffic Monday evening due to pothole repair on the Exit 99 overpass.
The short video was posted on UDOT’s social media pages and features comments from Carlos Braceras, executive director of UDOT. Braceras acknowledged there were significant delays for motorists, especially Tooele County residents, which reached up to 3 hours in length.
Due to the lane closure at Lake Point, traffic was backed up for more than 7 miles to the east on I-80 throughout the evening commute.
“There was a big delay,” Braceras said. “Some of you waited 2 to 3 hours to be able to get home. For that I apologize.”
Work on the bridge began Monday morning but the scope of the work changed when crews found it difficult to find stable concrete to base repairs around, Braceras said. While he applauded the work of UDOT crews to make the bridge safe for motorists, he acknowledged the department could have done better letting motorists know about the impact on their travel.
“We screwed up,” Braceras said. “We could have done better in keeping you informed of what was going on.”
Braceras also said UDOT took immediate steps to understand why the delays happened and ensure it doesn’t happen in the future.
While reconstruction on the westbound ramp to state Route 36 is slated to begin as early as 2018, crews are trying to repair pot holes and damage to the existing structure, according to Shawn Lambert, UDOT Region 2 West District Engineer. In the video, Lambert detailed the repair to the bridge, which changed significantly once crews began to work.
Workers expected to be repairing a small, “football-sized” pothole, it revealed to be much larger once work began, Lambert said. With more extensive work required, the innermost westbound lane remained closed through the evening.
“It is just an older bridge and so once those potholes open up — when they go all the way through the deck — they can start to, as traffic goes over them … open very quickly,” Lambert said. “So we need to get those fixed as quickly as possible.”
UDOT had been waiting until there was better weather to complete the necessary pothole repair, according to Lambert.
“We were kind of waiting for a good week that we didn’t have snow, which we haven’t had all December and January,” he said.
Due to the cold temperatures, the lane remained closed overnight while the concrete used to patch the pothole cured, according to UDOT spokesman John Gleason. When the lane was reopened Tuesday, metal plates were placed over the construction work.