Why do people complain about traffic? (Minneapolis: dangerous, safety, to move)

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by turkeyjerky

There's no way a city this size should have traffic as bad as it does. It boggles the mind and is a continual frustration.

We have bad traffic?

[Drewcifer]

I guess I am fortunate that my first big city driving experiences were in New York and Chicago. Traffic here has never bothered me.

[yoyoma02]

Originally Posted by turkeyjerky

My issue with the traffic here is that it simply does not need to be as bad as it is. The lights downtown are ill-timed so that you hit every single one (even late at night when you're one of like 4 cars on the streets), people drive too slow and clog single lanes on major surface streets like hennepin or lake, and the traffic suddenly stops for no reason whatsoever on highways (see: the curve on 94 just west of the river; I cannot understand why traffic comes to a sudden stop, before starting up again, everyday during rush hour).

There's no way a city this size should have traffic as bad as it does. It boggles the mind and is a continual frustration.

I mean, how about the lights on hiawatha, where you get random times when the green light is just skipped--how the f!ck does that happen?

I couldn't agree with this post more!

[ILI.EB]

Here in Boise, it is the same way. There can sometimes be a lot of cars on one road at one time, but the traffic at times rivals much, much larger cities (not for as long or as widespread, obviously)

It seems as though it is mostly related to poor light timing. We can be backed up a mile and the lights sometimes only let 3 - 4 cars go and then a 5 minute wait until the next green. It is absolutely unbelievable. It's a situation that can be alleviated, but nothing is being done.

[Chi-turtle]

Originally Posted by MPLS_TC

Often times the traffic flows well even at the height of rush hour.. I recently spent time in milwaukee for a month and are traffic is only slightly worse then theirs although we are larger. Even if you hit a slow spot it usually does not last long. Do people exaggerate are traffic here? It seems that for are population, traffic moves really well..

I chalk it up to the whole "people from MPLS want to think they live in a big city" mindset.

Traffic in the Twin Cities is nothing compared to a city like Chicago. The only traffic issue I have in the TC is that people are just bad drivers. They're slow to respond, they go 10 miles under the limit in the far left passing lane, and they let everyone and their brother cut in ahead of them thinking "hey, I'm a nice person helping these people move in" yet they forget about the 10 other cars behind them that they're screwing over.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Chi-turtle

I chalk it up to the whole "people from MPLS want to think they live in a big city" mindset.

Traffic in the Twin Cities is nothing compared to a city like Chicago. The only traffic issue I have in the TC is that people are just bad drivers. They're slow to respond, they go 10 miles under the limit in the far left passing lane, and they let everyone and their brother cut in ahead of them thinking "hey, I'm a nice person helping these people move in" yet they forget about the 10 other cars behind them that they're screwing over.

I agree that this is the #1 reason for traffic jams in the MSP area. If the lane in front of you is clear and there are 40 cars stacked up behind you, MOVE OVER!!

[Chi-turtle]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I agree that this is the #1 reason for traffic jams in the MSP area. If the lane in front of you is clear and there are 40 cars stacked up behind you, MOVE OVER!!

Haha, it's as if the rear view mirror doesn't exist for some people!

Also, something I noticed is if I passed someone on the right I'd get a mean look or even been flipped the bird....How am I doing anything wrong? YOU are the one clogging up the passing lane! LOL

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Chi-turtle

Haha, it's as if the rear view mirror doesn't exist for some people!

Also, something I noticed is if I passed someone on the right I'd get a mean look or even been flipped the bird....How am I doing anything wrong? YOU are the one clogging up the passing lane! LOL

how do you know they're giving you a mean look?

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by Chi-turtle

Haha, it's as if the rear view mirror doesn't exist for some people!

Also, something I noticed is if I passed someone on the right I'd get a mean look or even been flipped the bird....How am I doing anything wrong? YOU are the one clogging up the passing lane! LOL

YES! But that happens everywhere, I'm afraid.....there are some people out there who literally think they can control your actions, and these are the people who get the most frustrated when you pass them on the right (despite their best efforts to keep you behind them)!

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

how do you know they're giving you a mean look?

By using his eyes, I'm thinking....