Texas' 6 highest traffic areas (Houston, Dallas: house, places to live, design)

[rgv17_956]

its just a guess concidering Google put only 6 texas metro areas on their traffic icons.

Dallas
El Paso
San Antonio
Austin
Houston
McAllen

[tgannaway89]

I'd agree with the first 5 as they are among the largest cities in the state.

[jfre81]

I haven't been to San Antonio in a few years, but I've heard it's got a bit worse in recent years.

Houston's traffic sucks but it's really not that bad considering the size of the city and the sheer land mass of suburban/exurban sprawl from which it draws people in cars. People don't think of it much, and there were some real eggs laid in their design in some parts, but the level of freeway infrastructure that exists here is amazing. Hopefully it won't have to continue to be expanded significantly if a more wide-reaching rapid transit emerges...the demand is here now.

[JamesAbilene]

Based on my experience driving in the cities, I would rank them, from worst traffic city to best, as follows:

Worst:
Austin
Dallas
El Paso
San Antonio
McAllen
Houston

Anyone who has read what I have written in these forums knows that these are not my rankings of the cities as places to live. However, I would take Houston and San Antonio traffic over Dallas and Austin any day. The worst pile-ups and traffic jams I have been in in Texas are in DFW and Austin.

[jfre81]

Austin is brutal, at least on the freeways. Having the two lanes of 35 going both ways through the heart of town just doesn't cut it.

[catman]

Austin grew much too fast for the roads to keep up with it. It's happening in Fort Worth, too, and Denton is awful for its size trafficwise.

[gkv74]

Austin has the worst traffic in the state, and nowhere else is even close.

[Alatex]

I visit Texas, rather than live there, so my opinion might not be worth much, but the worst Texas traffic snarl I ever had the misfortune of being in was along I-10 in Houston. It took me 4 hours to get from one side of metro Houston to the other.

Dallas is so dang spread out that, even though traffic moves, it takes a freakin' hour to get anywhere. My cousin lives in one suburb north of Dallas and commutes to another suburb north of Dallas, and it has taken him as much as an hour and a half. He used to live in Houston, and from what he said, had an easier time getting around there.

Austin has very congested traffic for its size, but simply because it's smaller than the above two, it doesn't seem *quite* as bad to me.

San Antonio traffic was surprisingly easy to navigate compared to the other big cities.

I have not been to west Texas or south of San Antonio.

[JamesAbilene]

Check out our 15 minute rush hour in Abilene some day. Why, just last Friday, I saw at least six cars between my house and work!

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Austin is brutal, at least on the freeways. Having the two lanes of 35 going both ways through the heart of town just doesn't cut it.

There's no more ROW available because I-35 butts against the State Cemetery.

There has been talk in the past about making 35 a double-decker through town with 5-6 lanes each direction.