For the past couple of years, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has been telling frequent travelers of Big & Cottonwood Canyons to get their tires inspected. If they comply with the tire-traction rule on powder days, they can put a sticker on their car. This optional sticker, which doesn’t cost anything, is meant as a way to increase “vehicle safety and preparedness.” This system is back for this upcoming winter, but it’s not clear why they’re still doing this.
Typically, at the mouth of the two Cottonwood Canyons, a police car is stationed. They are supposed to be monitoring the area for vehicles that are not compliant with the traction laws. While they could be monitoring for cars without stickers, they don’t do anything, leading to slower traffic. The lack of enforcement has been a frequent complaint among locals.
UDOT is still advocating for people to get stickers though, partially to get into healthy habits ahead of the implementation of Phase 1 for the traffic improvement plan for Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Here are some comments from UDOT’s Cottonwood Canyons Instagram page that present some valid points:
- “I have never seen stickers checked at the mouth of the canyon before cars go up to the resorts on snowy days, so why would people even bother to get a sticker if vehicle & tires are not ever checked at the canyons in the winter?”
- “Stop giving out stickers. START giving out TICKETS. ‘But there’s no money for enforcement…’ maybe use the tickets to pay for it. Also: whose paying the officers all over the canyons and secondary road ways there now?”
- “I’ve made the effort to get a sticker 3x/ 3 ski seasons, and never once have been checked. I’m not going to bother with it this year.”
I think it would go a long way if UDOT showed the enforcement of the snow tire policies in the Cottonwood Canyons on social media. Until then, the sticker program seems like a pointless endeavor for drivers who frequent the Cottonwoods.
Image Credits: UDOT Cottonwood Canyons
