A quick internet search told me the population of Utah in 1970 totaled just over a million people. Today, that number's nearly quadrupled. In 1970, my parents purchased ten acres of land on the foothills of Farmington, a sleepy little town twenty miles or so north of Salt Lake City. I've often wondered how much has changed since then.
In the past twenty years I've done a lot of commuting to get to work, to get to rehearsals, to get to events. The government's tried to build roads to keep up with the population growth, but there's no way it can. We can have too many kids and buy too many cars--it's a losing proposition.
Many times, as I've driving either north or south (can't drive east - mountain, or south - a big lake...) I've wondered what it was like for my father to commute to his job at Hill Air Force Base. In 1970 Interstate 15 was open between Salt Lake City and Clearfield so my dad drove his big beautiful Buick Electra 225 on a newly-built three lane highway.
I can't imagine there was much traffic.
Even at its busiest time, I doubt there was a "rush hour" to worry about back then, with so few people and so fewer cars. I keep imaging my dad driving on a nearly empty road.
Back when I worked a graveyard shift, we clocked in at midnight. I remember the roads were nearly empty back then, but that was more than twenty-five years ago. Whenever I'm driving I-15 around midnight now, there's so many more cars than there was before.
I started to wonder if I'd ever see nearly empty roads.
I did last weekend.
I ran an errand in Salt Lake Saturday night. Driving home, there were only a few of us heading north. It reminded me of all the times I've driven--and parked--on packed roads. Eventually, things will return. It will be deemed safe to travel and people will be anxious to return to an activity that provides employment, entertainment, and freedom. For now, though. You may just get to experience something not seen in decades...a nearly empty road.
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