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The commute on I-80 was extremely slow this morning and at least 15 cars were damaged after a 250-pound grate, still attached to concrete, was pulled out of the ground on westbound I-80 near 900 East.
The Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) is still investigating, and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) says it definitely wasn't to blame.
UHP Trooper Aaron Colvin said, "It was pretty heavy. For even a semi to pull it out, they would've felt something. So we believe there's a vehicle out there that probably sustained some damage." But that vehicle's driver kept going.
Now, troopers are left to speculate what happened. They think a semi had a loose chain, it got caught on the grate and lifted it out of the road. Colvin said, "This case ... this seems more like a freak accident simply because it was bolted down with 6 bolts, and I believe they said it was also welded."
The temporary grate was in a traffic lane. UDOT says, usually, the storm drains are on the shoulder, but construction forced it to put it there. UDOT spokesman Adan Carrillo said, "Usually, it wouldn't be in the middle of the road, just because as the old grade meets the new grade. We have a 2 percent slope that needed to be adjusted so that when it rains the water has somewhere else to go."
UDOT maintains it's not to blame and that this grate was bolted down properly. "This could have happened on a residential street with no construction around," Carrillo said. "It's all a matter of vehicles not securing properly, either their chains, loads or trailers."
About 15 to 20 cars had damaged tires, but some had body damage.
One woman crashed into a barrier and hurt her shoulder.
For those drivers affected, insurance might be a sticking point. Eduardo Diaz de Medina with Allstate Insurance said, "Each policyholder should follow up with their insurance company, file a claim and then let them investigate and see if there is cause on UDOT or on some else that can pay for the damages."
UDOT says in a month, motorists won't have to worry about driving over these grates because traffic will shift onto the new lanes
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com
E-mail: tcallan@ksl.com
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