BEAVER DAM, Ariz. — It was bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles.
As cars inched northbound on I-15, it took hours to go through an eight mile stretch of freeway under construction in Arizona, between Mesquite, Nevada and St. George, Utah. A combination of a bridge construction project and thousands of holiday travelers created a massive traffic jam.
"A trip that takes 10-to-11 hours to get home took us 15," said Chris Fleming, who was trapped in the traffic jam for hours with his family returning from a vacation in California.
"Those eight miles were what? Two-and-a-half hours probably," said Chris' wife, Doris.
"More like three!" Chris added.
Thousands of Utahns (including this reporter) were stuck in the traffic jam, even though construction on the bridge replacement project had been suspended for the holiday. FOX 13 News heard from many of them who reported delays up to four hours and vented online. On the roads, frustrated travelers could be seen fuming in their cars while some turned around in the median to go back south into Nevada.
Arizona's Department of Transportation has had the I-15 area between Mesquite and St. George under construction since 2021 but the worst of it is the $56 million bridge replacement. It is scheduled to be completed in Spring 2024.
"During the next several weeks, including holiday weekends, ADOT suggests I-15 drivers heading to or from Nevada consider traveling through the Arizona stretch earlier in the morning or later at night to avoid the heaviest congestion. We know that's not always possible and also recommend extra travel time during peak days and hours," ADOT said in a statement to FOX 13 News on Monday.
The agency urged people to download an app it created to warn of problems in the area.
"Please be alert to slowing traffic ahead since crashes or disabled vehicles add to delays in the Virgin River Gorge area," ADOT said.
The stretch of I-15 from Utah through the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona to Nevada is heavily trafficked, but not necessarily by Arizonans. And politically, it became an issue for Utahns once before.
In 2011, the state of Arizona sought to have the chunk of I-15 turned into a toll road to pay for maintenance. At the time, Arizona argued to the federal government that its residents don't really use it (Littlefield and Beaver Dam are the only communities there) so the toll could pay for road repairs. Then-Utah Gov. Gary Herbert pushed back hard on the notion, arguing that Arizona should pay for road maintenance within its borders and not Utahns or Nevadans.
The idea hasn't been brought up since.
To help out as people prepare for more holiday travel in the area, Utah's Department of Transportation is considering ways to warn drivers headed past St. George into the Virgin River Gorge and toward Las Vegas.
Doris Fleming said more notification is needed.
"Definitely need planning. Some signs or something other than when you get to the fact that you’re already sitting there wondering what happened for an a hour-and-a-half," she said. "Yeah, would it be nice to have an alternate route possibly? Something."
