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I posted this on the Houston forum for input from my own city people but I would like to know from people that usually go through DFW and since CD separates Dallas and Forth Worth forums I'd rather ask all at once instead of posting it in both city forums.
Family emergency had my family here rushing to Dallas and Fort Worth this weekend. We were bouncing back and forth between the two cities all day Saturday and Sunday.
Unfortunately I had to drive myself rather than catching a ride but I made do and went the 290 Highway 6 way through Waco. I used my blinkers like they were going out of style through Waller. Something was wrong with 45 N (shocker there) and I get a call from my dad saying take 290 so I pull over and get directions and off I go. It was actually a nice scenic drive. I rather liked that route.
Then I'm in DFW. Now I'm a pretty fast driver an I'm use to the Houston BS traffic and bad drivers. We all know how bad people are down here.
Up there? No comparison. Either it was just a REALLY good weekend and they good drivers were out but I was getting cut OFF like crazy. Like I said, I can have a lead foot but those jokers up there do NOT BS around. In Forth Worth, on I-35 people were FLYING. Every....single....person. I don't think I saw one person talking on their phone or texting.
Or maybe while I'm going 75 they were flying around me going 85+ like I'm some grandma and can just multitask better than people here.
Going back and forth between Dallas on I-30 shoot...no one was stopping going "Ooohh look! Six Flags Over Texas! Cowboy Stadium!" Nope! While here I still see people staring like they haven't seen the Aquarium before on 45.
I kinda want to move up there JUST for fast drivers. I could get use to that! I saw no accidents, fender benders and people were FLYING. I started getting panicky because there were so many cars yet each car....except me were flying and I'm never comfortable going 80. At 80, my heart starts racing and I just can't. People were pulling out of parking lots and flying! Here people pull out fast then go 20.
No one was pulled over either. I don't think I saw one cop. DPD or FWPD must have been napping all weekend. Here HPD and HSCO are always out. I saw no troopers, constables either. Not one police car on the road. Here our cops would have had a field day handing out tickets. They'd been good for 5 years on speeding tickets.
On a leisure weekend here people are still going 60 on 45 and the Beltway. There was traffic especially on I-30 but it was flowing good. I can't remember the last time I drove on a free highway on a weekend with NO construction and no one just chilling. People had shyte to do and wanted to get there. No tolls was amazing because it was so much driving back and forth.
What gives?
Because it's further north everyone has been in America longer so they can drive? Everyone black, white, hispanic, asian, blue green, purple, etc knew how to drive? People were missing exits and blinkering and cutting others off FAST to exit? Here? Jokers cut you off going 20.
Did I just go on a good weekend? Unfortunately it wasn't a social visit but I LOVED that people were actually driving....albeit like bats outta hell but heading to the medical center on 45 from North Houston? 45 is a pure effing nightmare. Pure effing nightmare any day, any time.
I just got home and I'm still in shock!
I'm truly curious? There was traffic especially on I-30 but it was flowing good. I can't remember the last time I drove on a free highway on a weekend with NO construction and no one just chilling. People had shyte to do and wanted to get there. No tolls was amazing because it was so much driving back and forth.
Truly? Is that typical? The last time I went to the DFW area I was a passenger so watching the road but not really. As a driver? I feel like I went to a different country.
I'm shell shocked. I'm use to be one of the 10 or so cars driving fast but my driving at between 70-75 was Pre K up against Ph.D level 85+
I've had a nearly fatal car accident up there. I've also been stuck in traffic multiple times. There are bad drivers and traffic in every major Texas city.
See? I guess for me bad driving = going slower when everyone else around you is fast. I sped up to catch up then when I got panicky going 80+ I took feeders.
People here stay going 50 on the Beltway and just don't care. I saw lots of "bad driving " moves like cutting people off with an inch or two bumper space because of missed exits but they did it FAST!
I almost truly think people here do that kind of missed exit stuff just hoping the person behind them hits them because the rear driver is always at faulty except in the .0001% of the time they aren't even if the joker in front cut you off real close.
I was in Los Angeles a month ago. It is very similar to what you experienced in DFW, except with exactly 3x more people than Houston.
No cops either. CHP was nowhere to be found (they weren't hiding like the Constables). The few municipal cops out there were just making rounds, pulling people over if they saw anything, but not much effort like HPD/the Constables daily patrol on the Westside (especially on The 10).
Only difference between DFW and L.A. is the traffic jams in random places on the weekends due to volume. I could not believe the amount of people 'going out' on the weekend (both Saturday & Sunday). It's like weekday rush-hour in Houston on a good day, even into late-night; hell on a bad day! Apparently there is demand for KNX to broadcast traffic reports even at 2-4 pm on weekends!
Imagine trying to avoid an accident, taking the alternate route the radio report suggests, and then somehow an idiot gets into an accident on the alternate route. You're screwed!!! That actually happened a couple weeks ago.
I probably won't move to crazy L.A. (unless I have to for a job) after that experience. Even my uncle from S.F. noted how much crazier drivers are in SoCal versus back in NorCal (the "gentle people"). I can only physically handle the relatively slower-paced traffic in Houston.
Houston seems to be not as crazy in freeway driving compared to the rest of the nation for some reason. It's going to be scary when Houston becomes an Alpha World Megacity one day!
Glad you liked it. I think they raised the speed limit to 70 mph or maybe it's 75 mph not that long ago, I don't really pay attention, I just go with the flow. But whatever the limit is, people are naturally going to push it.
If the traffic is moving smoothly, for the most part the highway patrol likes to leave it alone, even if it is going 5 or 10 miles over the speed limit. They feel it's safer than disrupting it, but don't kid yourself, they will stop the idiotic driver weaving in and out running way over the limit. There are areas to watch out for though in regards to highway patrol. Hillsboro is one of them, but that's out of the DFW area and you're asking about our traffic.
I travel from Burleson into Fort Worth using 35 and zip right along. Same for 20 going to Dallas or west Fort Worth although construction was going on in west Fort Worth on 20. It's been awhile since I was out that way, so maybe it's better now.
I guess I'm use to it (the traffic) and really hadn't thought about it, but now that I am, you're right, traffic does zip right along around here. lol Too much to do and too little time to get it all done!
Wow, you must have had a lucky weekend! I came through Ft Worth a few weeks ago on 287/35 and sat in traffic for an hour trying to go a few miles down because 2 different highways were closed for road work. Both DFW and Houston can be hit or miss with traffic.
I live in Waco but drive up and down I-35 to the DFW Austin and San Antonio areas frequently and also do the Highway 6 drive to Houston on occasion.
Basically I find DFW traffic easier than Houston. There are less bottlenecks and the freeways are more of a big grid that give you multiple alternative routes compared to Houston. If you come into Houston on 290 or I-45 it can just totally suck and you don't really have alternatives. The Katy freeway can absolutely suck too. Austin is the same way. When it gets bottled up you just have to suck it up because there are no alternative routes.
Also if you are driving through the DFW area or driving up to DFW airport it is usually a better bet to route through the Fort Worth side than the Dallas side. At least that has been my experience. And generally speaking the worst traffic is on the north side of the DFW metro area. Coming from Waco I'm usually in the southern side so perhaps that affects my impression. When I get stuck up in places like Keller or Allen I find that it sucks much more than on the south sides.
As for speed traps. The worst one in my experience is the city of Alvarado which is south of Fort Worth on I-35W. I always see the local cops out in force patrolling their little section of the freeway. Lorena south of Waco used to be that way too but now that it is a giant construction zone not so much. Perhaps that is due to the fact that with all the freeway construction in Lorena there aren't places for the cop cars to park or for people to safely pull over when stopped.
I live in Waco but drive up and down I-35 to the DFW Austin and San Antonio areas frequently and also do the Highway 6 drive to Houston on occasion.
Basically I find DFW traffic easier than Houston. There are less bottlenecks and the freeways are more of a big grid that give you multiple alternative routes compared to Houston. If you come into Houston on 290 or I-45 it can just totally suck and you don't really have alternatives. The Katy freeway can absolutely suck too. Austin is the same way. When it gets bottled up you just have to suck it up because there are no alternative routes.
Also if you are driving through the DFW area or driving up to DFW airport it is usually a better bet to route through the Fort Worth side than the Dallas side. At least that has been my experience.
As for speed traps. The worst one in my experience is the city of Alvarado which is south of Fort Worth on I-35W. I always see the local cops out in force patrolling their little section of the freeway. Lorena south of Waco used to be that way too but now that it is a giant construction zone not so much. Perhaps that is due to the fact that with all the freeway construction in Lorena there aren't places for the cop cars to park or for people to safely pull over when stopped.
This post seems disingenuous..? You are somehow suggesting traffic in Houston is noticeably worse than DFW because your experience driving into DFW from the south is much easier than driving into Houston from the north/west? The south side of DFW has practically nothing.. The north and west sides of Houston are the most developed parts of the metro..
Oh, and I guess you don't count toll roads as "alternative routes"..? I count at least 5 toll roads either existing or under construction built to alleviate the traffic on 10/290/45.
I was in the Dallas area this weekend also. There were some slow drivers up there that irked me like the houston ones do. Especially ones going slow in the HOV lane and traffic at some odd hours But like you I didn't see much law enforcement.
The biggest thing I noticed and couldn't get over was how clean the freeways were compared to down here! There was absolutely no debris or anything on the side or the roadways. As soon as we got crossed over into the woodlands on 45 we knew we were back home There were tire shreds trash and whatever else on the road and shoulders.
The south side of DFW has practically nothing.. The north and west sides of Houston are the most developed parts of the metro..
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I wouldn't say this statement is completely accurate. It depends a lot on what you consider the northside of DFW. I am quite sure the folks in Southwest Fort Worth and South Arlington would disagree. Both these areas contain the bulk of Tarrant County retail including two of Tarrant County busiest malls Hulen Mall in Southwest Fort Worth and Parks Mall in Arlington. If you are talking about logistics (only if you consider Alliance the northside of DFW) , tech jobs, and corporate headquarters than yes a lot more of that is Northern DFW. However, in Tarrant County specifically Fort Worth the main development is in West and Southwest Fort Worth. In Arlington the bulk of the development is I 30 southward into south and southwest Arlington. It's not just as simple as the Northside of DFW has more development than the southside. In Fort Worth it's West and southwest Fort Worth that has most of the development.
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Highway 6 way through Waco. I used my blinkers like they were going out of style through Waller. Something was wrong with 45 N (shocker there) and I get a call from my dad saying take 290 so I pull over and get directions and off I go. It was actually a nice scenic drive. I rather liked that route.
The south side of DFW has practically nothing.. The north and west sides of Houston are the most developed parts of the metro..
