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Alex Cabrero reportingEver since a major highway between Logan and Tremonton closed, drivers have only one main way to get between the two cities. Now highway patrol troopers are writing a lot more tickets.
Highway 89/91 through Sardine Canyon is now the only main road between Box Elder and Cache counties, which means a lot more traffic and a lot more people running late to work.
Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) Sgt. Brian Nelson has pulled over his share of speeders during his career, but maybe not as many as he has in just the past week. "I had two at 100 [miles per hour], one at 90, one at 88, and then several in the lower 80s," he said.
Nelson's not talking about a straight, flat stretch of I-15 either. No, he clocked these speeders in curvy Sardine Canyon. "The speed limit is only 60 [miles per hour] through the whole canyon, so they're going a lot faster than they should be," he said.
This may be the reason why there are a lot more speeders in Sardine Canyon: Highway 30 is closed. It's one of the two main highways between Box Elder and Cache counties.
When construction crews needed to close the highway to begin work, it left only Highway 89/91 in Sardine Canyon between the two counties. Ever since, there has been more than double the traffic through the canyon.
There have also been a lot more speeders. About 30 are pulled over a day, which is close to quadruple the average. Because of those numbers, UHP has approved overtime for troopers to patrol the canyon.
Since that first week, Nelson says he's noticed drivers slowing down. "Hopefully we're getting the word out and people are slowing down, and we can get through this construction project without any serious crashes," he said.
Highway 30 is expected to be closed for about another month, and residents there can't wait for it to reopen.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
