Utah Highway Patrol confirmed that slowdowns have resumed in Parleys due to work in the quarry there.
There were no more slowdowns announced as of Friday, but it’s not the first time Interstate 80 has been temporarily closed to traffic for this reason.
UHP also closed the canyon pass last fall while Kilgore, the company that owns the Parleys mine pit, performed detonations.
Officers call these “slowdowns,” but they’re actually short closures, not reductions in speed. The slowdowns prevent debris from damaging cars and allow time to clear any debris that does fall on the road.
Kilgore contracts with the UHP to stop traffic during blasting. Usually it’s off-duty officers taking an extra shift, not officers being rotated in from other assignments.
Although the company did not respond in time for this report, it appears Friday’s slowdowns were exactly that.
People planning to drive through the canyon in either direction can check summitcounty.udot.utah.gov, udottraffic.utah.gov and the How’s Parleys? Facebook group to try to find out if any closures may affect them.
