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I just came back from jobhunting in raleigh my assesment as a non tarheel:
People: very friendly and helpful
weather:beautiful
traffic:NIGHTMARE...I have driven in traffic but the inner/outer beltway make no sense...lack of signs,lanes turning into exits without warning and the crazy driving made me a nervous wreck just trying to get to my hotel
the area is obviously expanding as every street had identical stripmalls and poltergeist housing crammed together
I guess my question is has anyone been totally overwhelmed by the traffic and how long does it take to get used to it...i can see why an ice storm would cause total chaos with that Mad Max driving environment is charlotte traffic like thAT?
I just came back from jobhunting in raleigh my assesment as a non tarheel:
traffic:NIGHTMARE...I have driven in traffic but the inner/outer beltway make no sense...lack of signs,lanes turning into exits without warning and the crazy driving made me a nervous wreck just trying to get to my hotel
the area is obviously expanding as every street had identical stripmalls and poltergeist housing crammed together
I guess my question is has anyone been totally overwhelmed by the traffic and how long does it take to get used to it...i can see why an ice storm would cause total chaos with that Mad Max driving environment is charlotte traffic like thAT?
Traffic is relative to where you are coming from: where do you live now? To me, there is virtually no traffic in the Triangle. Sure the roads get busy during rush hour, but it is literally just about 1-2 hours at certain times of the day, and confined to certain major commute routes, not the entire city of Raleigh, etc. But that is because I came up from Miami where there is near gridlock 24/7, even on secondary roads and many people on the roads were given driver's licenses without having ever really learned to drive in whatever country they came from, let alone on US roads. Driving in Miami is like a test of survival, and it can take 30 minutes to go one mile from the airport on a Sunday evening. So, to me, driving in the Triangle has been a pleasure! Plus, if you try to live opposite traffic to where you work, you'll almost never encounter any real traffic.
The beltline, however, I can totally understand the confusion. If I am trying to get somewhere I haven't been before using the beltline, I sometimes still get confused, a year after moving here. However, once you've done it a few times and screw up, you'll figure it out. The exits on there are pretty wacky, materializing out of nowhere, and with sharp turn-offs. I don't know who designed them, but they obviously weren't considering the fact that there would be so many people driving large vehicles well above the speed limit on that road! You'll get used to it, I promise!
I just came back from jobhunting in raleigh my assesment as a non tarheel:
People: very friendly and helpful
weather:beautiful
traffic:NIGHTMARE...I have driven in traffic but the inner/outer beltway make no sense...lack of signs,lanes turning into exits without warning and the crazy driving made me a nervous wreck just trying to get to my hotel
the area is obviously expanding as every street had identical stripmalls and poltergeist housing crammed together
I guess my question is has anyone been totally overwhelmed by the traffic and how long does it take to get used to it...i can see why an ice storm would cause total chaos with that Mad Max driving environment is charlotte traffic like thAT?
While traffic is getting worse here, I don't think you'll find many people on this board that are "overwhelmed" with the traffic. Keep in mind that many of the people here have moved from much bigger areas with much worse traffic than the Triangle (NYC, D.C, L.A. S.F, etc). I myself moved from the DC area and find the commute here a breeze compared to what I used to have to go through. I do agree about the crazy drivers, but again they exist everywhere I've lived before too. MHO is that people are able to speed and zip through cars here because there is less traffic than in other bigger cities. I certainly believe that if people driving on the DC beltway at 7:30am could drive 90 mph they certainly would. Some still try!
Traffic Schmaffic! This ain't nuthin' compared to Dallas! I can do 70-80 mph on I40 at 6:45am here, but in Dallas at 6:45 on either I635 or I35 its already bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go.
Any LIer will tell you that the traffic here is something to giggle about if anyone is feeling that the traffic is too hard to handle go up to LI and try getting anywhere on the LIE, Sunrise Highway, Southern or Northern State Parkways during rush-hour you will come back home with a refreshed outlook, trust me!!
great post, I totally agree! I don't miss traveling those roads at all...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkmeca11
Any LIer will tell you that the traffic here is something to giggle about if anyone is feeling that the traffic is too hard to handle go up to LI and try getting anywhere on the LIE, Sunrise Highway, Southern or Northern State Parkways during rush-hour you will come back home with a refreshed outlook, trust me!!
I just came back from jobhunting in raleigh my assesment as a non tarheel:
People: very friendly and helpful
weather:beautiful
traffic:NIGHTMARE...I have driven in traffic but the inner/outer beltway make no sense...lack of signs,lanes turning into exits without warning and the crazy driving made me a nervous wreck just trying to get to my hotel
the area is obviously expanding as every street had identical stripmalls and poltergeist housing crammed together
I guess my question is has anyone been totally overwhelmed by the traffic and how long does it take to get used to it...i can see why an ice storm would cause total chaos with that Mad Max driving environment is charlotte traffic like thAT?
The beltline is an art form........seriously, if you get out there a couple of times you will figure it out. As far as the exits go, they are actually much better than the ones in winston salem!!! You will get used to it.
The beltway system is confusing where it all comes together (40 into 440 into 540) but elsewhere is a breeze to figure out. As for traffic being a nightmare consider this; driving my second car from Long Island to Raleigh last week it took me well over one hour to drive through the Bronx due to a stalled vehicle on the GW bridge (normally a ten minute run). I passed through the DC area at 3:30 PM and rode my brakes for approximately forty-five minute just south of the city due to rush hour congestion (AT 3:30 PM!!!).
Everything truly is relative (as stated so well in previous posts) and for this relocated New Yorker the Triangle traffic is relatively blissful.
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if anyone is feeling that the traffic is too hard to handle go up to LI and try getting anywhere on the LIE, Sunrise Highway, Southern or Northern State Parkways during rush-hour 
so true...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
