Utah DOT Police will be checking snow tire traction for Little, Big Cottonwood Canyon

Calls from skiers and snowboarders for greater enforcement of road-worthy vehicles on the most difficult days in the Cottonwood Canyons are literally gaining traction.

This winter, the Utah Department of Transportation plans to increase enforcement of the state's traction laws on State Route 210 and SR 190, the two mostly two-lane highways that lead to and from the popular Cottonwood Canyon ski resorts.

According to UDOT's presentation to the Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday, the strategy is two-pronged. Agency officials said they would set up checkpoints at the bottom of the ravines on days the law is in effect. They also plan to strengthen the agency's sticker program for drivers who have their tires pre-inspected.

UDOT will formally announce the initiative at a press conference on Thursday.

“We listen to our customers and try to do our best, but the Canyon is simply not a unit. It's several different entities that have to coexist, and we all have to work together,” Jake Brown, UDOT district engineer for the Cottonwood Canyons, said in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune last month.

While Brown declined to provide details at the time, he said, “I think we pulled together during this time and came up with something special that I think the public will be happy with.”

In theory, the traction law prevents vehicles that are poorly equipped for driving in snow and ice from driving on Utah's roads. Although various workarounds are possible, a car or truck must generally be four-wheel drive, or have snow or “3-peak mountain snowflake” tires with at least 2/32 inch tread on all four wheels, or be equipped with traction devices such as Chains for propulsion when the law of traction is in force.

But it's not that simple. In fact, the traction law is not a law, but an administrative regulation. And citations can only be issued by the Unified Police Department. But UPD cannot enforce the rule until UDOT determines that ice, snow or factors such as poor visibility are interfering with normal driving. At this time, UDOT will turn on the flashing lights on the traction signs at the bottom of each canyon. But by then, cars that don't have enough traction could already be in the gorge.

As these cars attempt to exit the gorge, there is a higher chance that they will slide out, get stuck, or continue at a snail's pace – which can block traffic for hours. Such a scenario triggered a flood of tweets from frustrated drivers last Presidents Day weekend.

“A flashing light sign literally does nothing,” wrote Salt Lake City-based skier Mike Schmidt at the time. “If @UDOTcottonwoods thinks this is 'enforcing' a law then they are crazy.”

UPD officials told The Tribune in March that they had no good options. You can't preemptively report drivers, and pulling over violators in a snowstorm would be dangerous and likely slow traffic even further. They also said they only have five officers to patrol the six major canyons in Salt Lake County – too few to assign most of them to traction patrols every time it snows.

Under the new agreement, UPD will apparently have more tools to address the problem at the source. The Sandy and Cottonwood Heights police departments are expected to send more officers to the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon base when the traction law goes into effect — something UDOT is considering before major storms, not just during them. These officers will check for traction devices, measure tire tread and pull over cars that do not comply with regulations.

It is unclear how authorities plan to pay for the additional officers. But earlier this year, lawmakers approved redirecting up to 2% of the state's Cottonwood Canyons Transportation Investment Fund each year to address safety issues such as traction in the canyons.

However, UDOT's decal plan may be more satisfactory to locals.

UDOT implemented a Cottonwood Canyons decal pilot program in January 2020 to expedite the long lines that formed during traction checks by officers. In recent years, however, the sticker has become little more than window decoration. While it may provide motorists with peace of mind that their vehicle is equipped to travel through the canyons, it has rarely, if ever, been inspected by officials.

However, locals want the program to work. In a social media post Thursday, UDOT said a survey found 43% of respondents wanted the decal program to continue in 2024-25. Another 54% said they wanted it to continue, “but only with greater enforcement by local law enforcement.”

Starting this winter, the sticker, available for free at select tire shops throughout the Salt Lake Valley from Thursday through Feb. 28, will be to skiers what Disneyland's Genie+ pass is to theme park goers. Those shown can skip the traction line and go straight up the canyon.

Alta Ski Area general manager Mike Maughan, who has been outspoken about traffic problems in Little Cottonwood Canyon, said he still has some concerns. One is how much the additional enforcement will slow traffic through the canyon. Another question is whether cars without sufficient traction will continue to be registered even when a storm threatens. Still, he called the changes “a step in the right direction.”

“I’m excited to hear all the details about how this will work,” he said, “but I look forward to reducing the number of vehicles in the canyon that don’t have adequate traction devices.”

UDOT first hinted at the changes in a social media post in September. The video begins with Brown, another UDOT employee and representatives from the Sandy and Cottonwood Heights police departments sitting in their vehicles reading angry tweets about the lack of traction control. Brown then calls for a conversation with the others, the force of which is groundbreaking.

“We remind everyone that we want them to participate in the decal program, and that will be beneficial this year,” UDOT’s Brown said last month, “and it will help the canyon move a little more smoothly.”

The Salt Lake County Council unanimously approved UDOT's plan Tuesday.

This may be just the beginning of efforts to improve the canyon driving experience. Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, D-Cottonwood Heights, has opened a bill for next year's legislative session that would enshrine the canyon's traction requirements in state law. The bill would also increase the required tread depth in Cottonwood Canyons to 5/32 inch from November 1 through April 15.

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