Has traffic gotten worse lately? (Boston, Newton: apartment, lease, home)

[kdex86]

I live in Newton Upper Falls and work in Chelmsford. My drive to work has me traveling up Rte. 128 to Burlington, then taking Rte. 3 to Chelmsford. Normally, my commute is about 30 minutes each way. But ever since the calendar flipped from April to May, it seems like the overall traffic volume - most notably on my drive home, has significantly increased. The past 3 days in a row, while it has only taken me 25 minutes to drive to work, the drive home has taken at least 50 minutes, double the time of my morning commute. On my drive home, the delays are very one-sided. Rte. 3 from Chelmsford to Burlington is never tough, in fact, that leg takes about 10 minutes to go 10 miles. But once I hit Rte. 128, I have recently found myself constantly hitting the brakes, taking me at least 40 minutes to go the next 14 miles -- all of this NOT accident-related. As such, I have a few questions that I would like to ask:

1. If Rte. 128 is a circumferential highway - going around Boston, then why have I been finding it chronically congested like I'm in downtown NYC?

2. Given where I live and work, I should be experiencing a "reverse commute". So why has my drive home increased by a sudden 67%?

3. Are there any events at this time of year that result in more vehicles on the highways in May than there were in April?

4. Does Boston have the worst traffic delays in the nation? There are people at my job that travel from the north and west and complain about even WORSE gridlock on Rte. 3 in the mornings. As early as 6 AM, the traffic on Rte. 3 south between I-495 and Rte. 129 moves at a single-digit mph pace. In my opinion, this is worse than I-93 (Southeast Expressway) between Braintree and Dorchester. (Side note - this is not related to my commute to work, but why is this rural stretch of highway always a parking lot at such an ungodly hour?)

4. The lease on my apartment is up at the end of August. Should I seriously consider relocating to keep my commute no more than 30 minutes in one direction?

[jayrandom]

3. No. Not even close. Try LA.
4. Yes. Unless there's some compelling reason to stay. Your life will improve.

[wheelz]

Half the problem is probably because people are driving like total jackasses and zipping around like they are on their way to the Emergency Room. If they keep driving so aggressive bouncing between lanes that is exactly where someone is going to end up. I had a woman drive straight into me yesterday getting on 128 North off the Pike. Apparently she doesn't understand the term merge. I was in the left hand lan she was merging in to and she was on my left rear quarter like she wanted to race. She then lost her lane completely and drove right into me. Thankfully, a state cop was two cars behind her and saw the whole thing.

Women drivers are far more aggressive on the road than men are.

Another problem is the roads are absolutely horrendous, pot hole city and the bridges are a complete failure. Try going 495 North before route 3 and see if you still have a car left after going over a series of 3 separate bridges. Tax, tax tax and this is the freakin' thanks we get. It drives me crazy!

[gf2020]

50 minutes each way is a pretty typical commute time in Greater Boston. I don't think you have anything to complain about.

[natickmomof2]

I live in Natick and work near Manchester, NH, so I travel the same stretch of 128 and 3. Afternoons are hit or miss. Tonight was terrible - stop and go all the way from Burlington to exit 26 where I get off. Sometimes it is smooth sailing. I have found that it eases up a little later on - so if I am heading south on 128 after 6 or so it is not too bad and I usually beat the time Waze predicts. However, when I am on a deadline to pick my kids up and am on 128 around 5, it is the worst.

I am usually just thankful I'm doing the reverse commute on Route 3 - looks like a nightmare on the other side morning and night!

[Boston_Burbs]

I think flex time has really prolonged Rush hour.traffic starts before6am with the construction workers and goes until almost 10 then picks up again at 3 until 7.

The other issue is that not everyone is going into Boston. Some days I can cruise out of the city on rt 2 or 93 but hit a mess of traffic at the concord rotary or the rt 3/95 interchange

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by wheelz

Half the problem is probably because people are driving like total jackasses and zipping around like they are on their way to the Emergency Room. If they keep driving so aggressive bouncing between lanes that is exactly where someone is going to end up.

Ahhh good ol' m******* drivers

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

I think flex time has really prolonged Rush hour.traffic starts before6am with the construction workers and goes until almost 10 then picks up again at 3 until 7.

Thats true for Rte3 on the south shore as well. I'm on the highway by 5:40am and by then its already congested.

[xmarkd400x]

Traffic has certainly gotten worse, in my experience. I go Mass Pike eastbound from outside of 495 and I have a metric I call my "breakpoint". If I hit the 495/Pike interchange before my breakpoint, I'll have smooth sailing. If I hit the 495/Pike interchange after my breakpoint, I'm sitting in traffic. There doesn't really seem to be a middle ground.

Back around 2011/2012, my breakpoint used to be 6:30 am - before then, I'd miss most of the traffic. Nowadays, my breakpoint is more like 6:15am or even 6:00am. I'm finding I can't get up early enough to miss the AM traffic rush and I'm just resigned to losing a half hour every day taking in the beautiful scenery of the rusting chain link fence by the Framingham service plaza.

[G-fused]

Seems to me that things always get more congested when it warms up after the wintertime. That includes cars, bikes, pedestrians, and all the rest. The cockroaches come out en force.