View Real Video - Click On Desired Bandwidth
Watch the Eyewitness News report
Authorities reported that the first clash of commuters and Olympic traffic this morning went relatively smoothly.
And at Snowbasin Ski Area, conscientious spectators helped prevent a repeat of a traffic snarl that caused some people to miss the start of the men's downhill Sunday.
By heeding recommendations that they leave home at least four hours before the event, motorists traveling to northern Weber County for the women's downhill race at 10 a.m. today relieved the traffic congestion that marred Snowbasin's debut Sunday as an Olympic venue.
"It has run significantly smoother today. I think we successfully got out the message that (OIympic-event) travelers need to leave earlier," said Tom Hudachko, spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation.
And apparently Utah commuters are mixing well with international motorists.
"Everything so far is going very well," said Salt Lake County sheriff's dispatcher Rusty Richards. "So far, no major problems."
Doug McCleve, spokesman for the Utah Highway Patrol, agreed. "From what I understand, everyone is reporting no problem areas at this point," he said early Monday. "Things are going better than we expected."
Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials were beaming Monday as a result.
"Transportation was flawless today," said Fraser Bullock, SLOC's chief operating officer. He said extra transportation workers were dispatched to handle traffic this morning at Snowbasin and as a result, everything went smoothly. "It just shows the plans work," he said. "Everybody cooperated."
But Bullock also issued a warning for spectators and commuters headed out onto the roads for Tuesday. "Tomorrow is the worse day — black Tuesday," he said, when the number of Olympic events under way increases substantially.
UDOT's Hudachko pleaded for more Olympicgoers to carpool. A head count Monday at Snowbasin showed an average of 2.2 people in each car. "We'd like to see the numbers greater than that," he said. "That would help things out a lot."
On Sunday, a trio of problems caused significant delays and traffic congestion at Snowbasin — more recreational skiers than expected there, a shuttle bus without proper accreditation that created a line-up of 75 buses and drivers who left home later than they should have and tried to cram into the Mountain Green park-and-ride lot after they had already been told it was full.
SLOC President Mitt Romney himself intervened with law enforcement authorities to get the bus moving and personally directed drivers from the Mountain Green lot to the South Weber lot for about a half an hour.
The top administrative official of the International Olympic Committee said Sunday he was satisfied with the way transportation was working.
"We know a few people have experienced significant delays and there have been a few glitches," IOC Director General Francois Carrard said. "But on the whole, the IOC is satisfied."
Contributing: Leah Culler
E-MAIL: nwagner@desnews.com; lisa@desnews.com
