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The Valley traffic thread


MJLO

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I read an article in the paper today, that said

Americans are losing their love for cars. I think that could be said around the valley because of traffic and dumb drivers, that people enjoy driving much less. Perhaps that would be a good thing, and we'll start seeing more infill at the metro center.

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  • 2 weeks later...

ATV crash kills set worker during filming in Mesa area

"was driving an all-terrain vehicle on the freeway, which has been closed to the public."

Maybe that's why you can't get to work in the morning, Matt.

Could you check this out if you get a chance?

"Part of the film is being shot in the far eastern part of metropolitan Phoenix in Mesa on the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway, part of which is now adorned with signs in Arabic."

In lived in Houston when they filmed "The Chase" there with Charlie Sheen. Not the best movie, but the premise was that they drove to Mexico, so they turned one of the toll booths on the Hardy Toll Road into a really tacky border crossing. It stayed like that for at least a month. It's funny in the movie because you can see pine trees on the side of the road during that chase sequence.

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Yeah they closed 202 Red Mountain from Higley to Power over the weekend, my understanding is that they will be doing that over the next few weekends. Coming from where I live, in Los Sendas, It really does F*** up my commute.

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Did anyone read in the republic yesterday about how Traffic is already congested on the 202 san tan? That brings up a question. Obviously if the freeway is starting to feel congestion after only a month of being open. There was a huge need for it. Is there any other solution for the spread out valleys transit needs. Maricopa county is well on it's way to looking like LA or Atlanta on the road map. But with all the cars and all the congestion. Can you convince valley drivers to change the way they do things and take the slow as hell LRT?

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I know this is the Valley Traffic thread, but I thought it was pertinent per the discussion of traffic cameras.

My department (UA's parking department) has been told by UA lawyers that they can legally issue speeding tickets. Therefore, due to complaints, they're installing speed cameras in all of the parking garages, mainly to get people on the ramps. They're also increasing the speed limit to 15 (it was a ridiculous 5).

Initially, warnings will be issued until people become aware of the cameras. Extra signs have also been posted in the garages regarding the speed limit and the enforcement.

I think the consensus was that people on campus did not hate us quite enough.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

WOW did you guys hear about this guy who got clocked driving 147mph on the 101 thru Scottsdale? There's some debate on it because the car he was driving is a Hyundai Sonata, which automatically stops itself from driving faster than 137mph. Also something about tires coming apart speed going faster than 140mph. People are crazy around here!

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Is there some kind of statistical thing, showing that people crash into each other more during the winter out here? The last couple weeks the freeways have been absolute mayhem. It took me almost two hours to get to work yesterday, there were three crashes on the 60. It was backed up from Val Vista to the I-10 merger that's like 12 miles. And it's been like this every rush hour for more than a few days.

What do you guys think is the worst freeway in the valley, or hell in Tucson, if there's a worse one there.

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Winter = Snowbirds and Tourists = More Bad Drivers = More Accidents

Tucson doesn't even come close to Phoenix in traffic. I was actually just thinking about it this morning while watching the news, how it's just dumb to show the traffic except for accidents because the same two places back up every day, and they're just not that bad.

From what I've heard in seen, the worst seems to either be the 51 from the 10 to about Camelback or the 17 from the 10 to about Peoria or Thunderbird. The 17 north of the 101 is also ridiculous because it's still two lanes despite several thousand commuters living in Anthem and New River.

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Yeah I wondered about that myself, definately in need of widening. What about I-10 from Casa Grande on in to the 202 Santan. It's two lanes as well, but I imagine not as congested. From my experience though, I think the 60 from 101 to the ten merger is the worst. Or very much the interloop on the ten It doesn't get much more packed than thru the tunnel.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Atlanta is still #1 for that for me. 80-90 regardless of conditions.

However, Arizonans really don't know how to drive in the rain. You can tell especially when you hear people unintentionally peeling out at traffic lights when the road is wet, which seems to happen a lot. LA is supposedly the same, although I don't think I've ever driven in the rain in LA.

On that note, on my recent trip, I hit rain on I-25 just outside of Santa Fe. When I turned on my wipers, I noticed that the rubber had separated from the metal on one of them, and they were more or less ineffective. I hadn't used them in so long that I just hadn't noticed up to that point.

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Haha, I used to go to Atlanta a lot for business and I just remember there being some major street but there were like 3 of them downtown and I got lost because of it.

Arizona people really dont know how to drive in rain. Whats worse is people trying to drive in sandstorms.

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Did anyone read in the republic yesterday about how Traffic is already congested on the 202 san tan? That brings up a question. Obviously if the freeway is starting to feel congestion after only a month of being open. There was a huge need for it. Is there any other solution for the spread out valleys transit needs. Maricopa county is well on it's way to looking like LA or Atlanta on the road map. But with all the cars and all the congestion. Can you convince valley drivers to change the way they do things and take the slow as hell LRT?
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Well, I understand about the developement. My comment was more centered around the fact that a month after they built it, it was already backing up at rush hours. That just tells me how far they are behind in trying to catch up with the transit needs of the area.

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Yeah, the state would not fund new highway construction in the Phoenix area until the mid- to late-80's when they said "Hey, we're growing!" This was pre-101, pre-202, pre-303 and pre-60 West re-construction. From what I understand, the traffic was horrendous, but it was all on the surface streets (probably where Tucson will be soon).

Freeways do definitely spawn sprawl. Gilbert would still be majority farming if the 202 had not been built. But, the people have to go somewhere, and a majority of those who live in the exurbs will not live in an urban environment. They want good, over-crowded schools, tiny playgrounds for their kids (they call them "play lots" or something where my dad lives), and, most importantly, homogeneity and monotony. The suburbs, to me, are the epitome of the American Puritanistic dynamic of denying the true nature of society and humanity in general.

But maybe that's just me.

But I think even if the freeways hadn't been built, we'd still see sprawl. It might have pushed transportation ahead a little more, but it certainly wouldn't have stopped much of the growth nor much of the sprawl. Maybe the Gila River tribe would have built a massive toll road to Maricopa, thus opening it all the more to commuter developments.

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Well one thing the area has working for it, is a strong regional alliance between the cities, they may grapple about the small things. But the cities in the Valley seem to understand, that for the long term sustainability they need things like mass transit. Also the bus system is at capacity. I think there are enough people with a need for it so the initial lines should do fine. I do also think that density will start playing more and more of a role, when cities like Tempe, and Phoenix start seeing more infill. Mesa will also benefit, which ironically IS at present the most densely populated city in the state of AZ

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