This past weekend Chup and I were stuck in a traffic jam at the busy interchange of University Parkway and 2230 North. My brother in law MD won't even attempt eating in Provo on the weekends (from south Salt Lake county) because he has seen his share of weekend crowds and he won't put up with it.
While waiting to get through the light Chup and I started talking about Provo. He made his way from Twin Falls, Idaho to Provo for his freshman year at BYU. After graduating, he expected to make a move elsewhere (because like so many other students, Provo was just a temporary experience) but landed a job at the LDS Motion Picture Studios and stayed around.
"Why did you want to leave in the first place?" I asked him.
"I never thought of it as permanent." He replied.
"But why not permanent?" I asked.
This question led to the exploration of Chup's relationship with Provo. This year he will have lived in Provo for more time than he lived in Twin Falls. His childhood belongs to Idaho, but his adulthood is Utah--specifically Provo.
"I don't want to say I thought the town was self-righteous, because that is what everybody says. But it is something like that, something about Provo didn't feel comfortable."
But I think it has grown on him. Even as we sat in our car watching other carloads battle for a parking spot in front of Cafe Rio on a cool Friday night. Maybe I am the part of Provo that feels like home for him now. When he fell for me he also fell for my Provo-ness:
The way a BYU football game can alter my moods for days.
The way I pronounce certain words, like: coupon.
The way I am related to half the town.
The way I carefully cultivate self-righteousness.
(Wink.)
I'd like to think it all has a certain charm. No matter where our lives lead us, Chup and I will always have our first date at Ottavio's and watching the wildfire on Y Mountain the summer of 2001. Yes (sigh) we will always have Provo.
Since dating, Chup and I have had this long going debate about the Worst Traffic Light in Provo. I say it is the light on the crossroads of Freedom and 800 North. He thinks it is 900 East and 900 North. But I also dislike the light on 3rd South and State Street (by the Maverick). I've often wondered if anyone else in Provo has these types of discussions?
26 comments:
I know it's technically Orem and not Provo, but the light at State Street and University Parkway (by the University Mall) seems like purgatory. I've been known to go three or four blocks in the wrong direction just to avoid that light. The one you're talking about at 2230 and Univ Pkwy is pretty horrible, too.
500 West and 300 South wins, hands down.
I agree with Gerb. That 500 W and 3rd south is pretty bad. When we lived there we'd always turn right on 500 West and go around. It was always faster that way.
We LOVE Ottavios' and were so sad to discover that it closed. WHY?!
I agree with 500 W and 300 S intersection. And the 300 S and State St intersection is just strange. Why can't the streets line up better?
Canyon and Univ. Ave. (turning left) because there is another stop light right after you turn... begging for rear enders. (Personal experience).
I think the worst intersection is the one on University Parkway by Olive Garden. It's like 2 intersections pushed together to create confusion and madness! I'm also from Provo, and get teased for the way I pronounce coupon.
Emily, do you pronounce it cue-pon? (Like Cupid?) That is how I pronounce it, sorry to the French.
Amen to the 3rd South 5th West intersection.
Definitely University Avenue and what turns into 9th East. By the store formerly known as Albertsons and Zupas etc. I say coupon like Cupid with a U sound not an ooo sound, but that's how I learned to say it when I was little in Iowa. When I moved here I thought everyone said coopon.
Pretty much any east/west traveling is flirting with the traffic-light demons. It will take me less time to go 5 miles on University Ave than to go through 3 lights on Bulldog. You'd think I could just let it go, but I had to vent for a second. So yes, we do have conversations like that too...and I'm a transplanted Provonian.
Yes, we have conversations like that too. I think the worst intersection is the one on Parkway, by Olive Garden (I can't remember what north that is). I sympathize with Chup. I always thought Provo was temporary, and now I've been in Utah County for 12 years (we're in the southern part of Utah County now, after many years in Provo and it's uncomfortable down here too).
We vote 500 North and University Parkway. If you are trying to drive East (crossing University on 500 N) then the light only stays green for literally one second, allowing one, and at most two, cars to pass at a given time.
My worst nightmare is University Avenue, especially during Provo High's lunch time. I'm pretty sure there's an accident coming out of that parking lot at least three times a week. But if I had to pick an intersection, it would be University Avenue and Bulldog for me.
I agree with the intersection by the Olive Garden.
I live on Freedom and 8th North, and that light isn't bad at all!
My husband is from San Fran, I'm from Albuquerque, but BYU brought us together. Neither of us planned to make it permanent either, but here we still are, 11 years later. We got married in 2001 so the wildfires are "our" thing too.
I say the worst light is...well, all of them. Provo traffic sucks.
I don't particularly like the intersection of 500 W and Columbia Ln. (by the Walgreen's), but that's mostly beecause I have to pass through that intersection several times a day and if I don't hit the light right, it can make a difference of being right on time or 5-7 minutes late.
I grew up in LA and I say "cue-pon."
I dislike the light on State St. and 1720 North--the light at the bottom of the Orem to Provo State St. hill, right where you come out of Carterville Rd.
I also hate the intersection of Canyon Road and Bulldog, the lights take too long.
if you're on 3rd south trying to cross 9th east can take forever. i once got out of the car to push the cross walk button. that finally worked.
i'm from VA, i say coo-pon. my husband is from UT, he says cue-pon. he also doesn't say hill, he says heel. is that a utah thing too?
The worst light in Provo is the one at Freedom Blvd. and University Parkway, turning left from Freedom onto Parkway. The light is so short sometimes that only one car gets through.
I hate the signal on University Ave. and Canyon Rd. Right by Zions, Provo High, and Burger King. It seems like every time I drive through I almost get in an accident.
I, too, am from Provo and pronounce it cue-pon.
I personally hate the light at 1870 North State Street as you're heading up the hill into Orem. It is always red and makes me stop just as my old car is finally gaining some speed on that blasted hill.
I say cue-pon and I grew up in the midwest and the south. So what does that say?
So many intersections, so many to hate! OK, they are all pretty bad! I am with Mynamyn I never try to turn left at Parkway and State. You could get gray hairs waiting! And how about all of the neighborhood intersections south of campus. Oy! No lights but pedestrians who seem to think you can read their minds. My daughter had to slam on her brakes the other day when a guy waited until she was in the intersection then ran in front of her to cross the street. When she honked at him he made a face at her like she was an idiot and pointed at the crosswalk! My dad always said "The Lord protects idiots and children." Amen!
I remember the night of your first date! I was worried about our beloved Y mountain!
I had a prejudice against Utah before I followed my boyfriend (now hubby of 10 years) up here. We were so surprised that we ended up staying here, we both grew up in So. Cal, and we always thought we'd go back, but we LOVE it here in Provo! My surfer husband misses the beach and we both miss our families, but that all! Thanks so much for all your fun ideas to do around Provo- we tried SLAB pizza on Sat and it was yum!
P.S. I also pronounce "cue-pon"-everyone I knew in CA says it that way.
HA! Tyler and I were just discussing this LAST NIGHT! I think it's the light at 700 North and University Ave. but he thinks it's the one at 500 North and University Ave. They are probably exactly the same though haha.
I grew up in WV and FL and I say cue-pon. And I hate the light at 500 W and 300 S... mainly because I get stuck at it all the time since we live right by it.
coo pon
And the light at univ parkway and canyon road. It, along with any on that path (canyon road traveling south), are a cause for frustration.
But, if I had to go through the 500 w 300 s light any day of the week, I'd have to say that one.
On a lighter note, my favorite light, univ parkway and univ ave after 12 am. If I hit it (90 percent of the time) it means I'm home free
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