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A sign advises you to turn to a radio frequency for "traffic information" and all it does is repeat over and over again a warning that speeding fines are doubled in construction zones, when you are lucky if you are moving at all.
This isn't unique to that area. I had that in a city of 100,000 in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis area and even in the Des Moines area where there's hardly any traffic. You are thinking too much about it. It's not that uncommon.
Not when you have to get over 5 lanes and nobody lets you in and is driving faster than you. Then you have to be a very aggressive driver if you aren't already.
One benefit of slow-going highways (like often in NYC) is that it's easier to merge in. Aggression is still helpful for merging, though — accept that you will cut off someone off, and someone will cut you off, no one has a choice.
The most difficult border in the world to cross is not the North Korea-South Korea border, it is the Illinois-Indiana border. Horribly inadequate highways outside Chicago, and neither state will spend a dime to improve a road that just goes to another state. Way more traffic than they are planned for, always accidents blocking lanes, and the construction crews seem to be laughing at the long tie-ups of multiple lanes while they stand there and look at a pothole. A sign advises you to turn to a radio frequency for "traffic information" and all it does is repeat over and over again a warning that speeding fines are doubled in construction zones, when you are lucky if you are moving at all.
Overall, the Chicago freeway (or expressway) system as they call it there is good. However, when I lived in the far NW suburbs in the early 2k's, Randall Road was a real mess. There once was a plan for a N/S freeway through Kane and McHenry Counties, but those plans were cancelled years, if not decades ago. (In fact, I think I read that McHenry County, far NW suburbs, is the most populous county in the U.S. with no freeway.)
The most difficult border in the world to cross is not the North Korea-South Korea border, it is the Illinois-Indiana border. Horribly inadequate highways outside Chicago, and neither state will spend a dime to improve a road that just goes to another state. Way more traffic than they are planned for, always accidents blocking lanes, and the construction crews seem to be laughing at the long tie-ups of multiple lanes while they stand there and look at a pothole. A sign advises you to turn to a radio frequency for "traffic information" and all it does is repeat over and over again a warning that speeding fines are doubled in construction zones, when you are lucky if you are moving at all.
Actually they completed a massive reconstruction of that entire highway a few years ago, cost almost a billion dollars. The interstate is now 10 to 17 lanes wide in some areas - up from 6 lanes before. There are a ton of new ramps and flyovers, etc. They also expanded the parallel I-90 Indiana Toll Road through the area to 6 lanes, and are working on building the Illiana Expressway south of the current one (around 20 miles) between Illinois and Indiana as well. Use to be a HORRIBLE area to drive, along I-80, much much better now.
Every try driving through Manhattan? It's always bad, but at rush hour, it's even worse. One time, I spent an hour on the same block. Didn't move past this specific traffic light for one hour. Any borough is a pain in the you know what, but Manhattan is gridlocked in so many areas. The pedestrians are what make it so bad, IMO. They cross whenever they feel like it, they have no regard for lights. The fact that it's an island is also a downside because there are only so many bridges or tunnels you can take to get to each outer borough or NJ; it's hell. There is always at least a 20 minute bridge/tunnel delay from NJ every morning and night to Manhattan, usually it's between 30-40 mins at rush hour just at the bridge or tunnel itself. Even between rush hours, it's around 10-20. You hear it on the radio, traffic reports every so often. Then you hear "it's a gridlock day" literally every day. I don't understand why they don't just announce when it's NOT a gridlock day because we all know how bad it is every day.
Driving from my home in Union County, NJ through the Holland Tunnel has taken up to 2 hours. I live about 15 miles from the tunnel's NJ side.
The other boroughs are also a nightmare. I commute to Staten Island via the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth, NJ most days of the week and there are days when I hit traffic the second I get off the bridge until my exit about 10 miles later. It's mostly either construction traffic or traffic continuing across the whole island to the Verrazano Bridge, the people who are trying to cross into Brooklyn.
Traffic is always this bad even with a variety of bus routes including NJ Transit, Port Authority, and MTA buses within Manhattan, NJ Transit Trains arriving at New York Penn Station as well as the LIRR (Long Island Railroad), PATH trains (Port Authority Trans Hudson) going from parts of NJ to parts of Manhattan, and plenty of ferries from NJ to Manhattan as well as the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan. Even with all these mass transit options, traffic is still brutal almost all the time in and around the city, including CT and Long Island as well as NJ.
Let's start with Salt Lake City. Southbound, you run into Brigham City, and it just gets worse on I-15 for another 60 miles, through Ogden, Layton, North Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, Midvale, Provo. The entire experience can be a nightmare, with heavy traffic, the entire trip can take 2+ hours. I-215, the western beltway can save some time, check traffic reports.
Another is Seattle/Tacoma. Going Northbound on I-5, one can run into backups from Olympia, to Fort Lewis, to Tacoma, to Federal Way, to Renton, into downtown, then North Seattle, then Lynnwood, then Everett. I-405, the eastern beltway can save some time, (not usually), check traffic reports.
The Bay Area, driving from San Jose to San Francisco, is a nightmare. Not to mention East Bay traffic. I'd say it's a notch worse than Puget Sound.
One benefit of slow-going highways (like often in NYC) is that it's easier to merge in. Aggression is still helpful for merging, though — accept that you will cut off someone off, and someone will cut you off, no one has a choice.
I disagree. As long as you get up to the speed everyone else on the freeway is driving, it's much easier to merge onto the freeway in light traffic versus heavier traffic between the ******* driving 35 MPH on the expressway in the on-ramp in front of you and the other ******* hogging the merging lane on the freeway.
Actually they completed a massive reconstruction of that entire highway a few years ago, cost almost a billion dollars. The interstate is now 10 to 17 lanes wide in some areas - up from 6 lanes before. There are a ton of new ramps and flyovers, etc. They also expanded the parallel I-90 Indiana Toll Road through the area to 6 lanes, and are working on building the Illiana Expressway south of the current one (around 20 miles) between Illinois and Indiana as well. Use to be a HORRIBLE area to drive, along I-80, much much better now.
Oh, really? Thanks. It's been many years since Ive gone across there, I just gave up when I learned that it was much faster and easier to take I-65 down to Roselawn, Indiana, and cut across to Kankakee, since I was usually heading toward St. Louis. Even the truckers were starting to use that shortcut to avoid the massive traffic bottleneck at the state line.
I disagree. As long as you get up to the speed everyone else on the freeway is driving, it's much easier to merge onto the freeway in light traffic versus heavier traffic between the ******* driving 35 MPH on the expressway in the on-ramp in front of you and the other ******* hogging the merging lane on the freeway.
That's assuming you have long onramps. In many older NYC highways, you don't.
That's assuming you have long onramps. In many older NYC highways, you don't.
Many of the freeways in Detroit don't either.
I-94 (which I take everyday) for example through the city also has very short ramps.
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haha!
