Jump to content

Cities /w Worst Traffic Flow


Recommended Posts

Tampa has horrible traffic especially during rush hour and reasons are outdated highways, no loop, 2 tollways, 2 interstates, needs expansion, no transit. One accident on 275 haha expect standstill and tourist seasons worse, spring break :wacko: really needs upgrade. I was stuck in traffic one time on a saturday at 1pm at standstill for 2hrs :angry: The worse though is in New York those highways in west long island forget about it 2hrs+ barely moving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 105
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I think Atlanta has the easiest traffic of a major city. It's a breeze. :whistling:

The wheel and spoke concept is great. Easy into the city, easy out of the city.

story.atlanta.ap.jpg

So what if the Downtown Connector starts to back up around 2pm for the evening rush hour. :o

I could always use the HOV

lanes....if only I could get the nerve to carpool. :unsure:

traffic.jpg

And who says trying to meet a client in Gwinnett County will be a problem. I-85 into Gwinnett flows smoothly.

traffic_atlanta.jpg

When driving on GA 400, I get to make phone calls to clients to beg them to meet me at Perimeter Mall for a late lunch.

traffic_400_150.jpg

All in all I think Atlanta has relatively easy traffic. You get to read, download files on your laptop and even redo your makeup. You get used to the easy traffic we have here. :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

L_IMAGE.jpg

^ A photo of the traffic on I-64 (I think) when we got .1" of snow. ... yes. .1" Surprisingly it gets like that with rainy conditions, cloudy conditions, "overly sunny" conditions, and windy conditions. I wish I was kidding.

Hampton Roads had total gridlock on that day because of a fraction of an inch of snow. While adverse weather conditions are somewhat unrelated to this thread, I thought it was amusing and worth note. All in all, a scene like that is not at ALL unusual at any time of the year in any region of our metro. That day---as I said---was utter gridlock. All major thoroughfares were jammed for up to four hours. My mother works less than 2 miles away from our house (on a military base and has to go through the gate which takes a few minutes on average NOT during rush hour). On a normal rush hour it takes her about 30-45 minutes without traveling on any highways. On that day (I can't remember the date for the life of me) it took about 3 1/2 hours. I hate our traffic... Love the region! HATE the traffic...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've driven in Toronto, it's much the same of many major American cities,  It doesn't have the intensity of Phoenix, Chicago, or Los Angeles

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Toronto has much heavier traffic than Phoenix. Try driving across the city during rush hour, when it can easily take 90 minutes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Atlanta has the easiest traffic of a major city. It's a breeze.  :whistling:

The wheel and spoke concept is great. Easy into the city, easy out of the city.

story.atlanta.ap.jpg

So what if the Downtown Connector starts to back up around 2pm for the evening rush hour.  :o

I could always use the HOV

lanes....if only I could get the nerve to carpool.  :unsure:

traffic.jpg

And who says trying to meet a client in Gwinnett County will be a problem. I-85 into Gwinnett flows smoothly. 

traffic_atlanta.jpg

When driving on GA 400, I get to make phone calls to clients to beg them to meet me at Perimeter Mall for a late lunch. 

traffic_400_150.jpg

All in all I think Atlanta has relatively easy traffic. You get to read, download files on your laptop and even redo your makeup. You get used to the easy traffic we have here.  :blink:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I live in CLT, but work a week out of every month in ATL. Those pictures speak volumes ablout ATL. Esp, 400 and 285. Urrrrggggg !!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

im from san antonio, which does well most of the time except for there is construction constantly. But when i go to austin a medium sized city it has traffic like crazy. its a gateway to stuff but the traffic shouldnt be that bad i dont think

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took me more than 1 hour to drive home EVERY SINGLE DAY this week. I was considering moving downtown so I wouldn't have to deal with it, but now I'm DEFINITELY moving downtown, where my door-to-door commute can be under 20 minutes. Traffic in Toronto has gotten so bad it sometimes takes me 15 minutes or more to get from my office to the freeway, a distance of less than one mile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i know a few areas that have not been mentioned so far on this board. fairfield county, ct (where i live other when im not away in college) is pretty bad. The main north-south ride (besides I-95 and the merrit on the shoreline) is Route 7, a 21 mile road that is a regular 1 lane in each direction is habitually congested. it takes about 1 hr on average to complete the trip. It was going to become a regular interstate back in the 1960's but never happened because of enviromental concerns/costs. Also in the area, there is I-684 (brester,ny to southern westchester county,ny) and 84 interchange just across the border in Putnam county,NY . it once took my mom going north away from nyc, 1 3/4 hrs to complete what usually is a 10 minute trip to get home. When I-84 backs up(principle east-west road from danbury to waterbury to hartford), the traffic piles onto the local road that runs pararell to the interstate for about half the way through townand it makes it impossible to go anywhere after 430 PM to about 730PM (esp. on Fridays). York, Pennsylvania, a seemingly small town of 40,000 residents 45 miles north of Baltimore is bad. It consistently takes 20 minutes for me to go 3.5 miles from campus to the grocery store bc of the gridded road system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread makes me glad I live in a metro with a half million people and commute times are normally under 25 minutes. The one time I remember the whole city in gridlock was when a raccoon ran into a downtown electric substation, cutting power to 50,000 homes and businesses. Everyone left work at the same time, and it took me an hour to get home. It normally takes 15-20 minutes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you talk about traffic in the USA, you should be glad that you are not a driver in Quito, Ecuador. This, my beloved city, is constructed in the middle of mountains. Thus, the growth is limited to the north or south, and no more roads or avenues can be construted east or west. The city was planned for about 100 000 cars, but there are more than 250 000, in it is becoming chaotic. Adding to that, oru underdeveloped signal system, and our lack of city planners has rsulted in a city which in rush becomes hell. :wacko::ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that is a challanging situation for sure sir. In tallahassee Fla we have a few problem areas, but its realitively fluid. Some places i had a hard time was new Orleans in pm rush hour- both directions were stopped because of one small accident.... Atlanta is hell on earth as far as i am concerned, and tampa needs some help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been to Orlando twice and I found that with only one exception, the traffic was pretty nice.

The worst I've seen, personally, is a toss-up between DC/Baltimore and Boston. I think a lot of people can't fathom just how horrendous it is. Not only are the Bostonian drivers absolutely insane--from a psychological standpoint--I'm convinced that licenses are handed out as people over age 16 walk through revolving doors. I saw people BACKING UP on the highway, cut me off, then (almost hitting the guardrail) go down a different exit. People driving like that cause the major accidents but those big accidents in Boston don't exactly slow down the traffic all-too-much as it's usually at a standstill anyway.

I feel I have to mention a city that isn't in the US because, when I was there, it was just that freakin' god-awful. Milan, Italy is the worst city to drive in on the planet, I am convinced. Traffic is heavy in all directions at all times of the day and I guess it's Italian custom to see lane-marking-lines as "merely suggestions". Coming out of a twelve-lane toll booth getting into the city you would think there were 50 lanes. It was madness and took almost 30 minutes just to get out of the toll plaza AFTER paying the toll. In a way, Milan must take after Atlanta in that it thinks simply adding more lanes will help... Oy vey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No one has mentioned the Twin Cities as being pretty bad. From 1990 to 2000, the Twin Cities went from 34th in the nation for traffic congestion to 17th.

The freeway (we call them freeways here) system is horribly outdated and poorly planned. When the inner-city imploded in the 50s and sent the sprawl out in every direction, the city essentially had no freeways (Like most cities at the time). So, rather than plan for them, the developers built houses in a grid pattern in every direction they could.. only to have thousands of them torn down a few years later to make way for the freeways.

This presents a problem: The freeways cannot be widened without tearing down countless houses, replacing the bridges, etc. The freeways are literally maxed out from median (a simple metal divider) to sound/protection wall.

For example, I-35W, which runs from south to north merges with Minnesota highway 62 (Crosstown) to form what we call "Crosstown commons". This bottleneck is literally backed up at both ends from 7am-7pm every day. The 6 lane, very busy 35W merges with the 4 lane 62 to form a 6 lane section of road. Plans to reconstruct it and seperate the two freeways in a multi-level Chicago style configuration have been jeopardized by city officials on whether to add high speed bus lanes. To add to the misery, all the loop freeways around the city (494 and 694) are being reconstructed and widened, thus clogging them all day long.

Then comes the cherry on the sundae. Years ago, a major project was started to turn 4 laned U.S 169 into a freeway (take out the stoplights). The project was completed to 494 and then expanded again to the south in the 1990s. A new bridge was built over the Minnesota river (The Bloomington Ferry Bridge) and from the bridge out for quite a ways into the country side, 169 is a freeway. However, from the ferry bridge to 494 (About a 5 mile stretch or so), they did not turn it into a freeway. Instead, they kept hte traffic lights.

With the suburbs out along 169 (Shakopee, Savage) growing astronomically, the traffic on 169 has grown out of control. ON any given afternoon/evening traffic is backed up for miles at the 494 stoplights. I made the mistake of taking that route and it took me an hour to go 2 miles.

Luckily there's a new vision for the Twin Cities taht includes greatly expanded light-rail running in all directions, improved high speed bus lanes and a commuter rail line running northwest of the city. Finally some decent planning!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No one has mentioned the Twin Cities as being pretty bad.  From 1990 to 2000, the Twin Cities went from 34th in the nation for traffic congestion to 17th.

The freeway  (we call them freeways here) system is horribly outdated and poorly planned.  When the inner-city imploded in the 50s and sent the sprawl out in every direction, the city essentially had no freeways (Like most cities at the time).  So, rather than plan for them, the developers built houses in a grid pattern in every direction they could.. only to have thousands of them torn down a few years later to make way for the freeways.

This presents a problem:  The freeways cannot be widened without tearing down countless houses, replacing the bridges, etc.  The freeways are literally maxed out from median (a simple metal divider) to sound/protection wall.

For example, I-35W, which runs from south to north merges with Minnesota highway 62 (Crosstown) to form what we call "Crosstown commons".  This bottleneck is literally backed up at both ends from 7am-7pm every day.  The 6 lane, very busy 35W merges with the 4 lane 62 to form a 6 lane section of road.  Plans to reconstruct it and seperate the two freeways in a multi-level Chicago style configuration have been jeopardized by city officials on whether to add high speed bus lanes.  To add to the misery, all the loop freeways around the city (494 and 694) are being reconstructed and widened, thus clogging them all day long.

Then comes the cherry on the sundae.  Years ago, a major project was started to turn 4 laned U.S 169 into a freeway (take out the stoplights).  The project was completed to 494 and then expanded again to the south in the 1990s.  A new bridge was built over the Minnesota river (The Bloomington Ferry Bridge) and from the bridge out for quite a ways into the country side, 169 is a freeway.  However, from the ferry bridge to 494 (About a 5 mile stretch or so), they did not turn it into a freeway.  Instead, they kept hte traffic lights.

With the suburbs out along 169 (Shakopee, Savage) growing astronomically, the traffic on 169 has grown out of control.  ON any given afternoon/evening traffic is backed up for miles at the 494 stoplights.  I made the mistake of taking that route and it took me an hour to go 2 miles.

Luckily there's a new vision for the Twin Cities taht includes greatly expanded light-rail running in all directions, improved high speed bus lanes and a commuter rail line running northwest of the city.  Finally some decent planning!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That sounds very similar to the problems that are now starting to pop up here in Hampton Roads. I-664 was built right through low-income neighborhoods and old business districts and basically signed the death certificate for what's referred to as "Old Downtown Newport News". That whole section of the city turned into a ghetto and now the highway is hemmed in by developments, though if they wished to expand it, at least there would be little objection, as many of the houses are now abandoned along the highway.

In a way though, this area's problem stems from a lack of money. VDOT (Virginia Dept. of Transportation) is tremendously ill-kept, financially, so improvements are a decade away at best. Hopefully Minnesota and the Twin Cities in particular can begin to resolve these problems, though I am not aware of the financial status of that region.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8-10 miles would be just about impossible, considering the geography and development...too many obstacles...that's why they chose to build SR 840 so far out.  Think about it...8-10 miles out...you would have to build through Brentwood (can you say "NIMBY"?),  Antioch, across J Percy Priest Lake (diagonally), Hermitage, Old Hickory (while avoiding DuPont), Madison/Rivergate, Whites Creek and North Davidson hills (very rough landscape...look how long it took to complete Briley Pkwy), down to Bellevue and go around the Warner Parks and cut right into Brentwood (again, very rough landscape).  I don't think it would solve as many problems as it would create. 840 was about as close as they could build...feasibly.

I agree with you on the secondary roads...we have some good "Pikes", but they are either poorly mantained or under-utilized.

And heckles...if you think Nashville sucks, come to Knoxville...they are working on I-40 (always have been always will...) AND Kingston Pike at the same time...this leaves only Middlebrook Pike to get through Knoxville's most populous and congested area.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

NashVol, you are too young to know what a mess that I-40 was back when it was built. The two chimps that planned it thought that every street should be able to have access to the interstate and that none of them needed any ramps. It is still bad, but widening and dumping 2/3s of the exits have at least made it into a second rate system vs a full all out mess. You are right about heading west on I-40 or Kingston Pike. All the growth has been to the west and it has lead to gridlock. I miss the place, though.

Heckles, I don't remember you mentioning one of my most annoying things with the Nashville Interstates. The I-40-I-24-I-440 Interchange. The jump over is too short. More chimps that don't understate that you can't put exits that close together and have them function. And all of the fun getting to it along I-40 West is just like a trip to the Dentist. Of course if you stay on I-40 West, you come up on another split in just a mile. Roads brought to you by the TDOT Chimps with the crayons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MLJO is definitely correct about I-94 in downtown Chicago. Its a traffic jam every SUNDAY and all day long.

I just moved from Detroit to Grand Rapids and there couldnt be more a difference. I have yet to have to stop on the freeway here evan with all the construction. Best argument against sprawl I can think of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speaking of horrible traffic flow, I was wondering if this sort of thing happens in other cities around the U.S., or if its just a New England/Northeast thing:

An accident occurs on the highway, on the other side in the other direction, yet traffic backs up for miles on the side without the accident cause everyone slows down to stare at the crash on the other side. This happened yesterday and got me snarled in traffic for an extra 35 minutes than normal. This happen everywhere?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.