Is the traffic bad in Phoenix? (Glendale, Scottsdale: home, university, gated)

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by mikejjones1234

Traffic in Phoenix...lol there is none. Anyone who thinks Phoenix has traffic issues is either living in AZ isolation or doesn't get out much.

What other major city can you drive right through town at 70 miles an hour at 4:30 in the afternoon? NONE

Here's some stats for you.

TomTom Traffic Index

In the Americas which is all the countries in North America Mexico Canada and the USA Phoenix is ranked 56th!
56th! That is 5...6 th ...with 4.3 MILLION people! for congestion. That means there are 55 cities with worse congestion. Cities with only a million people are ranked higher.

Drive 70mph where 10 & 51 meet at 4:30pm. Try it.

[omaraz]

Traffic in Phoenix is congested but it's more annoying than anything. I lived in Houston and that traffic is bad, there isn't a time in Houston where you won't be stuck in a traffic jam. In Phoenix, you at least have the ability to get off the highway and take roads to where you need to go.

The good thing about the Phoenix area is that it grew fairly quick so everything is new. You should need to leave the town that you live in to get everything you need. The first two years I lived in Tempe and only actually went to Phoenix twice. Everything I needed was in Tempe and I worked in Scottsdale so those were the only places I needed to go. The traffic really isn't a bother if you live and work in the same area.

[mikejjones1234]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

Drive 70mph where 10 & 51 meet at 4:30pm. Try it.

Okay so I exaggerate a little...shoot me...but not while you're driving.

But, honestly some of you people would be arrested for road rage if you actually had to drive through a really congested city.

Either that or you would slit your wrists..shoot your dog... commit hari kari...


.....people complaining about the little congestion here is laughable.

[Bondurant]

The traffic is bad in certain areas. It's not as rosy as some make it seem. Camelback during rush hour is abysmal. The freeways go from flowing to parking lots in an instant (try to to gawk at the scenery to much when your first arrive). Depends on what you're used to I suppose. It's not Chicago bad.

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by mikejjones1234

Okay so I exaggerate a little...shoot me...but not while you're driving.

But, honestly some of you people would be arrested for road rage if you actually had to drive through a really congested city.

Either that or you would slit your wrists..shoot your dog... commit hari kari...


.....people complaining about the little congestion here is laughable.

Plenty of us have lived and have driven through cities with worse congestion. Traffic is traffic. To deny that Phoenix has any traffic is inaccurate. Look at the westbound 10 between the 51/202 interchange and the 17 stack. I occasionally travel eastbound and am amazed at the volume of cars creeping out of the tunnel toward the 17. It's ugly every single weekday. Seeing as that freeway segment didn't even exist 25 years ago, it's striking how heavily it's jammed.

[mikejjones1234]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Plenty of us have lived and have driven through cities with worse congestion. Traffic is traffic. To deny that Phoenix has any traffic is inaccurate. Look at the westbound 10 between the 51/202 interchange and the 17 stack. I occasionally travel eastbound and am amazed at the volume of cars creeping out of the tunnel toward the 17. It's ugly every single weekday. Seeing as that freeway segment didn't even exist 25 years ago, it's striking how heavily it's jammed.

I didn't say there was no traffic. people here complain when they can't go over 40 miles an hour on the freeway during rush hour, Try that anywhere else...not going to happen. Read the link I posted and see just how bad urban centers with a much smaller population are. Add to that some of those are up in the snow belt.


You have no idea what UGLY traffic is.

[bantam88]

Got back from San Francisco. Counting my blessings.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

Chances are somebody is going to write on this thread about how our traffic isn't bad compared to Los Angeles, Chicago, or some other congested nightmare of a metropolitan area.

No arguments there.

But that aside, Phoenix traffic is still very congested during crush hour times.

Any radio station in the moring and afternoon-evening will give traffic reports and it's always the same story, heavy traffic on the 202 Loop, US 60, SR 51, I-17, nearly all of I-10, SR 143 at the I-10 junction, and many parts of the 101 Loop.

Anyone who says Phoenix doesn't have traffic issues is either living in isolation or doesn't commute during crush hour.

I agree 100%. Phoenix's traffic isn't as bad as L.A.'s ... but on the other hand, the L.A. metro area is three times the size of Phoenix's, and their freeway system is quite a bit older than ours. At the same time, anybody who thinks there isn't heavy traffic in Phoenix must be living in a cave, or perhaps out in the exurbs where traffic is generally lighter.

Originally Posted by mikejjones1234

I didn't say there was no traffic.

Actually, you did say it:

Originally Posted by mikejjones1234

Traffic in Phoenix...lol there is none

The fact is that even though our traffic problems are not as bad as those in L.A., or in some other large cities, morning & afternoon rush hours here can be very difficult commutes. Nearly all the freeways are jammed, and stand stills are a common occurrence. The 51/10/202 freeway junction is frequently backed up, even during non rush hour times. I usually end up taking surface streets, but even they don't save time because they also have heavy traffic, and numerous stoplights to contend with.

And I don't believe for one minute that Phoenix ranks 56th in traffic congestion. Just a few years ago, metro Phoenix was ranked 13th in the nation for traffic congestion. I don't know where this source of yours was obtained ... but it's not very accurate because if Phoenix was truly 56th in the nation, it would mean that rush hour would be virtually non existent, and streets & freeways would be free flowing at all hours of the day.

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by mikejjones1234

I didn't say there was no traffic. people here complain when they can't go over 40 miles an hour on the freeway during rush hour, Try that anywhere else...not going to happen. Read the link I posted and see just how bad urban centers with a much smaller population are. Add to that some of those are up in the snow belt.


You have no idea what UGLY traffic is.

I used to live in Denver and went to school in Northern New Jersey. I have traveled all over this country for work. I think I have a bit of a grasp on ugly traffic.

I don't complain when I can't go 40 MPH on the freeway. There are plenty of segments here that are stop and go and understandably warrant complaining, especially from people who moved here from small towns.

[mikejjones1234]

56th on the list..that says it all.

You people have no idea what UGLY is.