FARMINGTON -- Thursday's wind storm in the Top of Utah not only caused delays on Interstate 15, it completely shut down FrontRunner service through Farmington.
As overturned semitrailers and uprooted trees caused major traffic delays for motorists on I-15 and other Davis County roads, a pile of debris landed on the Utah Transit Authority's rail track in Farmington, making it impossible for the train to pass through the area.
UTA spokesman Chad Saley said problems began about 6:15 a.m. and trains stopped running through Farmington shortly after that.
Saley said the debris included everything from light poles and pieces of an overhead walkway to equipment from a nearby construction site.
During the closure, UTA used "bridge buses" to shuttle FrontRunner passengers from the Layton station to the Woods Cross station.
Passengers experienced significant delays.
"It has been tough for us because we couldn't take the buses out on I-15 during the wind storm," Saley said. "We had to use all the side streets between Layton and Woods Cross."
Elisa Mendez commutes from Clearfield to her job at a restaurant in Salt Lake City. She estimated she would be at least 30 minutes late for work because of the delays.
"I'll be late, but I am just glad they are busing us over to Woods Cross," she said. "As long as I get to work, I'll be OK."
Mendez said she has lived in the area for 14 years and never experienced wind like that of Thursday.
"I've never seen anything like it," she said.
Saley said that no FrontRunner trains specifically were affected by the wind and were able to run without any problems between Salt Lake City and Woods Cross and between Layton and Ogden.
Evening FrontRunner commuters who had cars parked at the Farmington station were asked to ride to Layton and then were shuttled by bus to their cars.
Saley said the track was cleared in time for Thursday night's commute, but the Farmington station may take days to repair the damage before re-opening.
Comments