For those of you who were trying to get somewhere in Salt Lake this morning, did you get to see any interesting new sites? I'm sure some of you got to see roads you didn't realize existed. Yes, I too was trying to get somewhere this morning around 9, and I too had to try to figure out how to get out of the trap they now call "The Salt Lake City Marathon". Note the map, the marathon route creates this island you get stuck in. If you are anywhere inside the marathon route and you want to get anywhere OUTSIDE the marathon route you are screwed. The peace officers block every possible crossroad and traffic is not allowed to cross. So let's say I am at 5900 south and Highland Drive and want to get to 6200 south and Wasatch Blvd, I would have to drive all the way north to I-80 and since 700 East entrance to I-80 eastbound is closed, I would have to head west on I-80, south on I-15, and then East on I-215 to the 6200 south exit and then up to Wasatch.
This is an aggravating situation to have to drive 21 miles around the city when I could have just as easily driven 3 miles. The part that aggravates me most is that Salt Lake ALREADY had a yearly marathon on Pioneer day, Utah's celebration of it's beginnings. This falls on July 24th, no matter what day it is, unless it is Sunday. Now you'd think that they would move said celebration to the preceding Saturday, July 23rd, right? NOOOOOO! They move it to the following Monday July 25th. This one aggravates me because somehow it always blocks the route to the University area, and since I work up there, and my company is a National company so it doesn't close for the 24th, my drive to work is always bad.
But back to the subject at hand. If Salt Lake already has one marathon, why do they have to create another one, and why completely create this land lock? Or can they figure out someway to allow traffic to pass?
I plan on contacting the marathon organizers and making my voice be heard. If you also were one of the many caught in this aggravating trap I encourage you to do the same, just follow the link (marathon organizers).
At least I can be thankful it is only once a year... Oh wait, that's right, it's twice a year...
At least I can be thankful it is only twice a year...