From Dec. 12-15, 2023, Provo City traffic management conducted a traffic study per the request of a private citizen. Traffic was analyzed along Carterville Road in Provo.
Traffic Manager Vern Keeslar presented the traffic studies during a Provo neighborhood district four meeting in March.
The Carterville Road traffic study revealed unusual crash data and high speeds, according to Keeslar. Carterville Road is a collector road, meaning it accesses residential areas and serves to connect those areas to higher traffic roads.
Speed data
The posted speed limit along Carterville Road is 25 mph. During the four days that Keeslar recorded data, the highest recorded speed was 60 mph.
'There's always going to be some people driving twice the speed limit. You're going to see that on Carterville Road too,' Keeslar said.
He explained that sometimes people call saying, 'someone's driving 50-60 mph by my house.' Keeslar said the data supports those claims.
Drivers northbound drove on average 28 mph and drivers southbound drove on average 26 mph. However, Keeslar said the the 85th percentile speed shows a more accurate representation of traffic patterns, which is the speed that 85% of drivers are observed to travel.
85% of of drivers northbound drove 33 mph and 85% of drivers southbound drove 29 mph. Keeslar said he starts to be a little concerned about any data that shows consistent speeds that are 5 mph and more over the speed limit.
In order to curb the speeding, Keeslar presented multiple solutions, one being installing three more 25 mph speed limit signs.
'I found out that it (Carterville Road) only had one sign, one speed limit sign on that entire stretch. So I did something about that,' Keeslar said.
Crash Data
In 2023 in Provo, 201 reported car crashes were speed related, according to the Utah Crash Summary. That accounts for about 12.5% of all reported car accidents.
From 2021-2023 there were five car accidents on Carterville Road.
Keeslar presented the crash data from 2021-2023 and found that four of the five crashes involved drivers hitting parked vehicles.
'That is not normal,' Keeslar said during the meeting.
Two of those accidents occurred at night, so Keeslar initiated a street lighting study. He contacted the power department, and they fixed one light post.
Keeslar said they are currently looking for a location to install another light post. He hopes this will help with lighting and prevent more collisions involving a parked car.
Volume Data
On average, 156 vehicles drive on Carterville Road per hour, or about 4,109 vehicles daily which is about 3.62% of Provo's population.
These numbers are not close to being at capacity for the road. Keeslar said Carterville Road can still handle this level of traffic.
Community feeling in the meeting was appreciative, but still heavily concerned about the amount of speeding taking place on Carterville Road.
One woman commented in the meeting following Keeslar's presentation. She said she lives on Carterville Road and shared an experience where her dog was hit and killed on Carterville Road by someone driving over the speed limit. She said it made her even more concerned for the safety of her young children.
Keeslar encouraged everyone to report what they see and reach out.
'You're my eyes and ears out there on the road,' Keeslar said.
If you have a traffic complaint or comment you can reach traffic manager Vern Keeslar at vkeeslar@provo.org or +1-801-852-6783.