2019 Eagle Mountain Road Studies

The roads department of Eagle Mountain City preforms several road studies during the year to evaluate city needs as well as to find/verify problem traffic areas. In 2019 the Eagle Mountain roads department demoed a radar system that is used for road studies. The system could be setup in an area that will collect car speed, size, and volume information. This radar was used in a test in the Hidden Hollow school zone on Pony Express. They also used the standard road tubes for the rest of the studies they did in 2019. Zac Hilton and his team work hard to make Eagle Mountain a safe place to drive. The city did 27 traffic studies in 2019.

Bridle Way (Oak Hollow)1 residential
Bridle Way (Oak Hollow)2 residential
Canyon Wash Drive (North Ranch) minor collector
Chilton Circle residential
Clubhouse Lane (Top) residential
Clubhouse Lane(middle) residential
Clubhouse Lane(bottom) residential
Cunning Hill South residential
Cunning Hill North residential
Eagle Mountain Blvd (straight) arterial
Eagle Mountain Blvd (S curve) arterial
Gazelle Run North collector
Gazelle Run South collector
Harvest Lane residential
Horizon Drive minor collector
Lehi Fairfield Road face book road
Lonetree Parkway minor collector
Pawnee Road residential
Pony Express South arterial
Pony Express North arterial
Saddleback Drive minor collector
Sheps Ridge Road residential
Sparrow Hawk Way minor collector
Watermill Drive 1 residential
Watermill Drive 2 residential
White Birch Drive residential
Hidden Hollow School Zone arterial

Cedar Valley Sentinel (formerly i84005) has done a GRAMA request for the data associated with five of these traffic studies. We have included the results from these studies for different areas in Eagle Mountain. This article will use the term 85th Percentile Speed as a basis for tracking. “The 85th percentile is often used to determine speed limits for roads. The theory assumes that most drivers are reasonable and do not want to get in an accident, but do want to get to their destination as quickly as possible. Therefore, a speed at which 85 percent of people drive is figured to be the highest safe speed for that road.”

The theory is, that most people will drive at the speed they feel safe traveling at, not necessarily the speed that is posted on the roadway. Tom Sohrweide, PE, PTOE, a senior traffic and project manager dedicated to safety and helping others understand complex topics, explains it this way in an article he wrote entitled, “The Truth About Speed Limits, Explained by an Engineer“. “There is no guarantee that a speed limit will have any effect on driving behaviors. The fact is, when driving, most motorists choose a speed in which they personally feel both comfortable and safe.” Tom continues, “Simply, a speed limit sign should not dictate speed. It should reflect how drivers are actually behaving on the road. When you want drivers to slow down, you change the road through traffic calming measures like speed bumps or even design narrower roads, both of which make speedy drivers less comfortable.”

The Federal Highway Administration has an online course anyone can take to understand traffic calming measures. “The primary purpose of traffic calming is to support the livability and vitality of residential and commercial areas through improvements in non-motorist safety, mobility, and comfort. These objectives are typically achieved by reducing vehicle speeds or volumes on a single street or a street network. Traffic calming measures consist of horizontal, vertical, lane narrowing, roadside, and other features that use self-enforcing physical or psycho-perception means to produce desired effects.”

Below are the results of five of the studies done in Eagle Mountain during 2019. The studies are several that were done on Eagle Mountain BLVD as well as Pony Express.

Hidden Hollow School Zone

Dec 5-11 2019 the speed study was done at the school zone located on Pony Express in front of Hidden Hollow Elementary. During the time frame there were 91,688 cars that were tracked by the study. Those included 541 small vehicles (motorcycle), 88,056 Medium sized vehicles (sedan), and 3,091 large sized vehicles (truck).

The Max Speed in this study was 89 MPH on 12/11/2019 at 10:36:02

Close to 60% of all traffic during the weekdays were clocked over the speed limit. That percentage increased to 73.7% on Saturdays and 71.6% on Sundays. There was a measurable drop in the average speeds when the school zones were active.

Hidden Hollow Traffic Study Data

Traffic Count

Hidden Hollow Traffic Study 2019 - Vehicle Counts

Hour	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
0-1	75	102	129	141	154	275	281
1-2	34	55	67	62	61	136	173
2-3	19	26	24	33	38	68	83
3-4	24	27	23	26	27	52	44
4-5	23	41	39	38	38	35	36
5-6	112	109	111	109	102	44	29
6-7	399	396	422	409	428	158	72
7-8	766	822	822	748	707	300	100
8-9	1138	1113	1130	1087	1110	304	101
9-10	864	899	892	843	855	444	201
10-11	767	754	764	736	738	585	273
11-12	618	582	598	614	606	787	395
12-13	672	713	672	718	682	769	509
13-14	747	627	689	623	644	844	432
14-15	949	619	656	670	689	740	464
15-16	887	909	1013	985	1034	768	532
16-17	967	1139	1099	1102	978	838	566
17-18	1021	1062	1128	1134	1105	983	564
18-19	1254	1300	1243	1227	1303	1012	535
19-20	1073	1095	941	913	1147	956	479
20-21	619	482	735	612	663	771	346
21-22	751	562	499	586	790	571	370
22-23	385	573	444	418	602	484	253
23-24	243	250	243	240	407	351	144
Totals	14407	14458	14384	14174	15008	12275	6982

Traffic Speed

Hidden Hollow Traffic Study 2019 - Speed Summary

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
Count Over 35 MPH Limit	8167	8243	8287	7950	8696	9052	4996
% over limit	56.7	57.0	57.6	56.1	57.9	73.7	71.6
Avg Speeder	40.8	40.9	40.9	40.8	41.0	41.4	41.5

Hidden Hollow Traffic Study 2019 - Speeds

Hour	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
0-1	38.00	37.77	38.73	36.97	37.62	37.82	37.81
1-2	38.79	38.69	37.19	37.74	37.64	36.87	37.98
2-3	38.79	37.28	40.04	37.03	36.08	38.57	37.27
3-4	40.04	38.33	34.83	37.27	38.49	38.40	38.32
4-5	38.30	38.95	38.23	38.39	38.08	39.40	38.61
5-6	37.52	37.03	37.93	37.42	38.23	37.64	36.03
6-7	37.89	38.31	37.95	38.14	38.47	38.84	37.12
7-8	37.86	38.24	38.72	37.67	38.3	38.59	37.56
8-9	31.77	32.49	32.46	31.60	32.48	38.51	37.16
9-10	32.99	33.50	33.77	33.84	34.55	39.24	39.49
10-11	34.34	33.78	33.84	33.93	34.27	39.81	39.38
11-12	35.68	36.75	36.12	36.79	35.88	39.83	40.27
12-13	34.90	35.28	34.82	35.24	35.24	39.19	39.72
13-14	33.50	33.97	34.07	34.21	34.44	39.66	39.72
14-15	32.15	38.40	38.77	38.64	39.24	40.19	40.29
15-16	32.91	32.65	32.27	32.65	32.73	39.67	39.88
16-17	37.21	31.99	32.71	32.05	33.52	39.43	39.40
17-18	38.66	38.32	38.49	37.50	37.81	40.04	38.36
18-19	38.04	38.17	38.86	38.29	37.82	38.67	37.37
19-20	37.87	38.00	38.21	37.45	37.62	36.72	38.14
20-21	38.47	38.71	3798	38.18	38.89	37.60	38.39
21-22	38.23	38.56	37.86	38.31	37.52	37.00	37.92
22-23	38.23	37.98	38.70	38.15	37.67	37.60	37.03
23-24	37.99	37.18	38.69	38.82	37.49	37.95	37.33

Showing 1 to 24 of 24 entries

Pony Express Community Development Center

This study was done from June 18, 2019 to June 24, 2019.
During this 5 day period there were 6,611 cars that were recorded. The posted speed limit at this location is 45 mph. The 85% speed was 45.19 mph, with a median speed of 38.92 mph. 5435 (84.6%) of the cars traveled below the speed limit while 989 (15.5%) traveled above the speed limit. Highest recorded speed was 98.5 mph, with 1 (.016%) traveling between 93-99 mph followed by 1 (.016%) traveling between 81-87 mph. The next highest group was 75-81 mph with 8 (.125%) traveling at that speed.

Pony Express Roundabout

This study was done from June 18 to June 26, 2019
During this 7 day study there were 42,040 vehicles monitored. That posted speed at this location is 35 mph. The 85% speed was 38.92, with a median speed of 34.56 mph. 2265 (54.1%) of the cars traveled below the speed limit while 19203 (45.9%) of the cars traveled above the speed limit. Highest recorded speed was 68.1 mph with 5 (.012%) cars traveling in that speed range of 62-68 mph.

Eagle Mountain BLVD – S-Curve

This study was done from June 18 to June 26, 2019.
During this 7 Day study there were 67,566 vehicles recorded. The posted speed at this location is 45 mph. The 85% speed was 60.84 mph, with a median speed of 53.13 mph. 6394 (9.5%) of the cars traveled below the speed limit while 60687 (90.5%) of the cars traveled above the speed limit. Highest speed recorded was 99.4 mph, with 70 (.104%) vehicles driving between 93-99

Eagle Mountain BLVD – Straight

This study was done from June 18 to June 26, 2019.
During this 7 day study there were 67,496 vehicles monitor. The posted speed at this location is 65 mph. The 85% speed was 68.23 mph, with a median speed of 62.86 mph. 44070 (65.6%) of the vehicles traveled below the speed limit while 23128 (34.4%) traveled above the speed limit. Highest recorded speed was 98.9 mph, with 26 (.039%) vehicles traveling between 93-99 mph.

The info graphics used in this article were done by Colby Curtis, a current resident and City Council Member for Eagle Mountain.

Image used with permission from Jason Ruflin. This is a picture of the main round about where Eagle Mountain BLVD and Pony Express meet. Taken at night using a drone.

Mike Kieffer

Mike Kieffer – Editor-in-Chief, Cedar Valley Sentinel
Mike Kieffer is a dynamic leader and community advocate based in Eagle Mountain, Utah. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Cedar Valley Sentinel, a local publication dedicated to informing, inspiring, and elevating the Cedar Valley community through honest and accurate journalism. With a passion for fostering connections, Kieffer has made it his mission to highlight local businesses, provide reliable news, and support community development.

Beyond his editorial role, Kieffer is the owner of Lake Mountain Media, LLC, a company specializing in media and communications, and the co-owner of Quail Run Farms, which focuses on sustainable farming and community engagement. He also actively contributes to the local economy and culture as a member of the Eagle Mountain Chamber of Commerce.

Kieffer’s dedication extends to preserving and promoting the history and heritage of the Cedar Valley area. He often participates in community-centered events and media, including podcasts that explore the unique aspects of life in the region. Through his varied endeavors, he remains a steadfast advocate for the growth and enrichment of the local community.

quailrunfarms.com