Imagine telling your boss you were 30 minutes late to work because an elk herd shut down the interstate.
Seems like a strange excuse, eh? Though I say that, it looks like Utah residents that were actually held up by the elk-induced traffic jam back in January could have pointed towards this traffic camera footage to prove they weren’t fibbing. A herd of elk legitimately held up cars – in both directions – on I-80 in Parleys Canyon.
I don’t really have to sit here and tell you that traffic can be incredibly frustrating. We’re all very much aware of the road rage that can come from slowing to a stop on a road that’s supposed to have a speed limit of 70 miles per hour. And there’s no good time for travel delays, but stand still traffic jams always seem to come at the worst possible time.
To put things simply, there’s nothing worse than adding minutes – if not hours – to a trip or commute.
But if elk are to blame, would you say that makes traffic a little more tolerable? No one in their right mind would stop to admire dozens of cars in front of them. I get that. Though I’d argue that if it’s dozens of elk that are holding things up, the beauty of nature might make the delay easier to digest.
And guess what? Animal-induced traffic jams are more common than you think. If you don’t believe me, you are welcome to check into this traffic jam that was caused by bison, or feel free to watch this video of a parade of elk running across a Montana highway. When you live out in the country where animals roam free, they’re occasionally going to stop you right in your tracks… whether you like it or not.
Some areas have decided to combat this issue by constructing wildlife overpasses. If you’ve never seen one, they’re pretty cool, and they’re sole purpose is to provide a safe way for animals to cross busy roads. Thus, traffic jams like the one in this video below are avoided… for the most part.
Utah State Troopers had no choice but to shut down I-80 in both direction to allow for the elk herd to move on through. Traffic camera footage captured everything, and KSL 5 TV posted it to their social media accounts. The various videos edited together first show the elk herd making their way across the interstate as cars are lined up for a mile in both directions.
Once the herd successfully crossed the road, it appears that officers encouraged the animals to move up the rocky terrain. That led them to bring cars to a halt on another busy roadway – and it even looks like there might be a wildlife overpass that the elk are failing to utilize. Eventually though, the elk herd made it through all of the traffic (like they were playing a game of Frogger) and continued on up the surrounding Wasatch Mountains.
KSL 5 TV shared the video of the January traffic incident with this caption:
“Why did the elk cross the road? Maybe to prove they weren’t chicken. Troopers stopped traffic on I-80 in Parleys Canyon Wednesday morning to allow another elk herd to cross the freeway.”
