Salt Lake City information?

[_Who Knows]

I will just add my agreement that Utah drivers are the worst. I commute from Utah County to Salt Lake every day. It's a wonder I'm still alive.

Last week, I had a guy come in from Seattle on a business trip. Out of the blue he said "wow, the drivers here sure are crazy."

Everyone just seems like they're always in a rush here.

by the way Jersey - the sign outside of IKEA still just says "Opening Spring 2007" so they don't have a set date yet. It appears that construction has slowed down - i can't imagine it being ready by the end of April, but maybe.

[_Gazelam]

I recommend you do to your car what Gallagher did for his daughters car. Just tie a ring of used tires all the way around it before you go to Utah. It might also help if you simply buy a used car, preferably something old that actually has some metal in it, maybe a 72 Cadillac. Then apply the ring of tires.

[_Jersey Girl]

Pesky,

How do Utah drivers compare to the East Coast? New Jersey Turnpike? GSP?

Jersey Girl

[_Jersey Girl]

Guys on the thread,

I did post previously for information about SLC in general. I'm thinking about flying in and getting a rental. From the airport....how is navigation? Compare the airport in terms of size to others...Sea/Tac, Newark International, Denver International Airport for example.

What's crazy about the drivers? Not observing the speed limit? Cutting people off? Failure to use turn signals? California stops? Running red lights? All of the above?

I've driven all over the US however not in the SLC area. Thanks for your comments!

Jersey Girl

p.s. As for the flipping off...you do know that's the Jersey State Bird, right? ;-)

[_moksha]

If you understand X,Y coordinates you will understand the SLC address system. In addition, having the mountains as a landmark helps immeasurably in navigating during the day.

[_gramps]

Guys on the thread,

I did post previously for information about SLC in general. I'm thinking about flying in and getting a rental. From the airport....how is navigation? Compare the airport in terms of size to others...Sea/Tac, Newark International, Denver International Airport for example.

What's crazy about the drivers? Not observing the speed limit? Cutting people off? Failure to use turn signals? California stops? Running red lights? All of the above?

I've driven all over the US however not in the SLC area. Thanks for your comments!

Jersey Girl

p.s. As for the flipping off...you do know that's the Jersey State Bird, right? ;-)

Airport is pretty simple. Now, maybe has two, or even three wings, but easy to navigate. Just ask all the missionaries and their families scattered all over the airport if you get lost. It's not unrare to see an Apostle strolling through at times.

After renting your car, head east. You will drive smak dab into the temple and be in the center of everything Mormon.

Where are you staying? What part of town? What are you doing there anyway, and what do you want to see?

About the traffic: all the above, except for the red light running. I have never seen much of that. It is the the drivers in the far left lane that insist on staying at 55 (legal, of course, technically) and preventing the others from getting around them to go a little faster. So, watch your right side. They are often going faster than the ones on your left. And everyone is throwing each other dirty looks. It's really comical at times. A lot of frustrated people there, for sure. Get the tires, per Gaz' warning. Better to be safe than sorry.

I really like the U of U campus, and it would be fun to visit, maybe. The cafeteria is excellent, and relatively fair-priced. Special collections is fun, in the Marriott Library. Lots of papers to go through. So much to read. If you find you like the campus layout, all the trees and grass, then you have me partly to thank. I worked on the landscape crew there for several years. I'm quite proud of the job I did there. I must have planted half of the trees between the golf course and Orson Spencer Hall myself (and say Hi! to Orson while you are there. He's one of my ancestors.)

On 13th East and 2nd and 3rd South, some shopping and bookstores and places to eat, just below the university. Try the Market Street Broiler on 3rd and 13th. Should still be quite good seafood (yes, in the desert), unless things have changed.

If you want to get up into the mountains, just holler. I have lots of recommendations, both close to the city (15 minutes), or a little farther away (1 hour).

[_sailgirl7]

I moved from Northern Virginia to Utah a year and a half ago. As far as traffic- I thought I died and went to heaven. Sure there's heavy traffic during rush hour- but it's NOTHING compared to driving on 495, I-95 or anywhere near D.C. I remember being stuck in traffic there constantly. At midnight on a Tuesday- I would be sitting in traffic. Sometimes it would take 30 minutes to inch a mile.I HATED it. So I don't get people who complain about the rush hour "traffic" here. From my perspective it's just fine. As far as drivers being rude- I guess so- but I think there are rude drivers everywhere- And courteous drivers everywhere. I have seen both. I'd say it's about 50/50.

[_Who Knows]

I moved from Northern Virginia to Utah a year and a half ago. As far as traffic- I thought I died and went to heaven. Sure there's heavy traffic during rush hour- but it's NOTHING compared to driving on 495, I-95 or anywhere near D.C. I remember being stuck in traffic there constantly. At midnight on a Tuesday- I would be sitting in traffic. Sometimes it would take 30 minutes to inch a mile.I HATED it. So I don't get people who complain about the rush hour "traffic" here. From my perspective it's just fine. As far as drivers being rude- I guess so- but I think there are rude drivers everywhere- And courteous drivers everywhere. I have seen both. I'd say it's about 50/50.

Do you drive up and down I-15 between 7am and 8am? Or 5pm and 6pm? I guess it's not THAT bad right now. They finished all that construction a couple years ago, and that helped A LOT. But it's slowly getting worse again. In a few years, we're going to be back to where we were before they added extra lanes.

[_sailgirl7]

Do you drive up and down I-15 between 7am and 8am? Or 5pm and 6pm? I guess it's not THAT bad right now. They finished all that construction a couple years ago, and that helped A LOT. But it's slowly getting worse again. In a few years, we're going to be back to where we were before they added extra lanes.

Yeah- it's really slow between Bountiful and Woods Cross. But have you ever driven on I-95 from Northern Virginia into D.C.? Or taken the 270 spur down past the D.C. temple to get to the beltway? That's what I'm saying- COMPARED to that- anything is better. (Except L.A. of course.):) Of course my husband who is from D.C. HATES Utah and curses the traffic. But I laugh because his commute time is sooooo much shorter now. He is just a Utah hater.

[_Who Knows]

Do you drive up and down I-15 between 7am and 8am? Or 5pm and 6pm? I guess it's not THAT bad right now. They finished all that construction a couple years ago, and that helped A LOT. But it's slowly getting worse again. In a few years, we're going to be back to where we were before they added extra lanes.

Yeah- it's really slow between Bountiful and Woods Cross. But have you ever driven on I-95 from Northern Virginia into D.C.? Or taken the 270 spur down past the D.C. temple to get to the beltway? That's what I'm saying- COMPARED to that- anything is better. (Except L.A. of course.):) Of course my husband who is from D.C. HATES Utah and curses the traffic. But I laugh because his commute time is sooooo much shorter now. He is just a Utah hater.

No, I've never driven out there. But I have driven in L.A., so I know what really bad traffic is like. You're right, Utah shouldn't be complaining about bad traffic YET.

I think most of the complaints here though have related to the horrible drivers. In my experience, they're worse than anywhere else in the US (in my limited experience of driving in L.A., Chicago, Denver, S.L.C.).