A SUB ARPT MGR ENTERS AN ACTIVE RWY IN A VEHICLE AFTER GETTING CLRNC FROM THE 'DUTY MGR;' NOT CALLING THE GND CTLR AT SLC; UT.

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RWY SURFACE DEV. RWY 16L/34R AT SLC; AUG/MON/01; XA15L. I WAS RETURNING FROM A TRAINING CLASS WITH 3 OTHER PAX. I HAD HEARD THE DUTY MGR ADVISE ARPT CTL THAT RWY XX (I DIDN'T HEAR WHICH ONE); WAS CLOSED. THE DAY PRIOR; WE HAD CLOSED RWY 16L/34R FOR PAINTING. THE PAINTING SUPVR ADVISED US THAT THIS RWY WOULD BE CLOSED EACH DAY (XA45-XB45L) FOR PAINTING. A NOTAM REQUEST FOR RWY 16L/34R HAD BEEN PREPARED FOR USE THIS DAY. I APCHED THE E SIDE OF RWY 16L/34R AND ASKED THE DUTY MGR FOR PERMISSION TO ENTER 'THE CLOSED RWY FROM THE N END.' I WAS GRANTED PERMISSION AND DROVE TOWARDS THE RWY. AS I APCHED THE RWY; I DID NOT SEE OTHER VEHICLES (OR EVEN ACFT) SO; I CALLED THE DUTY MGR AGAIN AND STATED 'VERIFY THAT I CAN DRIVE ONTO CLOSED RWY 34R.' THE MGR SAID 'PROCEED.' I ANSWERED; 'PROCEEDING ONTO CLOSED RWY 34R.' JUST AS I REACHED THE SHOULDER OF THE RWY; THE MGR TOLD ME; 'NEGATIVE; RWY 16R/34L IS CLOSED.' I IMMEDIATELY TURNED HARD R AND EXITED THE AREA. ATC DID NOT SEE ME OR RPT A VEHICLE. AFTER I LEFT THE AREA OF RWY 34R/16L; I SOUGHT OUT THE DUTY MGR TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED. THE DUTY MGR TOLD ME HER VERSION: A) WHEN I STATED I WAS AT THE N END OF THE CLOSED RWY; SHE ASSUMED I WAS AT THE N END OF RWY 16R/34L; SHE DID NOT SEE ME; BUT GRANTED ME PERMISSION TO ENTER THE RWY; ANYWAY. B) WHEN I DID NOT SEE ANY VEHICLES (OR ACFT) ON WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A CLOSED RWY; I STOPPED AND VERIFIED THAT I WAS CLRED ONTO 'CLOSED RWY 34R.' THE MGR TOLD ME (LATER) THAT ALL SHE HAD HEARD WAS 'RIGHT' AND ASSUMED THAT I MEANT RWY 16R NOT 34R; WHICH WAS THE ACTIVE (WE HAD JUST CHANGED RWYS FROM A S FLOW CONFIGN: RWYS 17/16L/16R/14; ETC TO A N FLOW CONFIGN: RWYS 34R/34L/35/32; ETC). THE DUTY MGR TOLD ME TO PROCEED. C) WHEN I RESTATED THAT I WAS 'CLRED ONTO CLOSED RWY 34R;' IT WAS THEN THAT I HEARD HER SAY 'NEGATIVE; RWY 16R IS CLOSED.' MY VEHICLE HAD ONE SET OF WHEELS ON THE SHOULDER OF THE RWY. I MADE AN IMMEDIATE HARD R TURN AND QUICKLY LEFT THE AREA. NOTE: THOUGH THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE TWR; NO ONE CALLED ME OR RPTED THAT A VEHICLE WAS ON OR NEAR AN ACTIVE RWY. AS AN EX-ATC PERSON; 18 YRS OF ATCT EXPERIENCE; I FIND THIS DISTURBING. LESSONS LEARNED: I LEARNED THE FOLLOWING LESSONS (AGAIN) FROM THIS INCIDENT: A) NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING. IF YOU LEAVE THE 'ACTION' FOR A WHILE (LIKE I DID) GET A FULL BRIEFING BEFORE DOING ANYTHING! THINGS CAN (AND DO) CHANGE FREQUENTLY. B) IF SOMEONE CALLS YOU FOR PERMISSION TO ENTER A CLOSED RWY UNDER YOUR CTL; NEVER GRANT PERMISSION; UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW WHERE THEY ARE! (SITUATIONAL AWARENESS) C) IN REF TO HEARING ONLY A PART OF THE XMISSION (R INSTEAD OF RWY 34R...) I SUGGESTED THAT WE SUBSTITUTE GEOGRAPHIC REFS TO OUR LCL RWY CONFIGN: RWY 16R/34L; W RWY. RWY 16L/34R CTR RWY; RWY 14/32 DIAGONAL RWY; RWY 17/35 E RWY. IF THIS WERE ADOPTED; WE MIGHT FIX A RECURRING PROB HERE: PEOPLE MISUNDERSTANDING WHICH RWY TO RESPOND TO DURING AN INCIDENT (FOREIGN OBJECT DAMAGE CALL) ALERT 1; ETC. D)I COULD HAVE BEEN MORE SPECIFIC IN MY REQUEST TO ENTER WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A CLOSED RWY. I COULD HAVE SAID THAT 'I AM ON THE E SIDE OF CLOSED RWY 34R; NEAR THE RWY 16L GS ANTENNA.' THIS WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE MGR MORE CLUES UPON WHICH TO ACT.