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I know people here tend to prefer public transport. But for this, it doesn't matter. These car centric cities are known for their extensive freeway systems:
In my opinion these are well above the rest:
Los Angeles
Houston
DFW
Miami
Atlanta
Chicago
Phoenix
San Antonio
San Diego
For their size, Orlando and Jacksonville have quite impressive systems too, but ultimately are much smaller than the rest of the metros.
I'm assuming here that we're strictly talking about "how easy is it to get from anywhere in the metro area to anywhere else", and not taking into account the aesthetics of the freeways or the harm they've done to ecosystems or the neighborhoods they've plowed through.
Seattle's network is probably below-average. There are some pretty populated areas where it's a long way to the nearest freeway: Magnolia and Ballard, most of West Seattle (now that the West Seattle Bridge is indefinitely out of commission), most of South Seattle (and the I-5 exits to here are especially confusing since they aren't at major arterial streets), the southwest suburbs around Dash Point, the northeast suburbs around Mill Creek. I-5 runs too close to WA-99 on the north side of the metro, and to WA-509 on the south side, if these highways were positioned differently they could pick up more residents.
I would have to add St. Louis to this one due to the 4 interstates that run through downtown. (55 44 64 and 70) it is so easy to navigate the metro area and get to anywhere with in 20 minutes. There are many freeway grade routes within St. Louis county like 367 141 370 and 364. Not to mention the i270/255 loop and inner belt 170. The area could easily accommodate another million to 1.5 million people especially after the 270 rebuild in north county.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Phoenix - For an overall metro freeway system, it has the most modern and up to date freeway system in the US. Also no toll roads and no dedicated toll lanes anywhere.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 08-30-2020 at 03:32 AM..
I'm surprised that Kansas City hasn't been mentioned in this discussion as well.
It has either the most or close to the most lane-miles per capita of any 2m+ US metropolitan area and one of the lowest levels of traffic congestion not only in the country but in the Western Hemisphere. (Depending on the survey, St. Louis either outranks it or comes close.)
It also does very well in those metrics if you set the threshold at 1m.
It also has four Interstates, like St. Louis (49 doesn't extend inside the I-435 beltway because the road was not built to full freeway standards within the older part of Kansas City as part of the compromise that got it built at all). And although there's no freeway serving the corridor due south from downtown — it would have sliced through the city's richest neighborhood, which made it a no-no — it covers the metropolitan area very well.
1. Detroit
2. Dallas
3. Chicago
4. Los Angeles
5. Minneapolis
Bottom 5:
1. Austin
2. Atlanta
3. Cincinnati
4. Charlotte
5. Nashville
So for context, in Detroit, Minneapolis and Dallas, the freeways actually work exactly as they were designed to. They get you where you need to be in a reasonable time frame for major cities, even in Dallas' case (relatively speaking) despite it having toll roads and explosive population growth.
As far as the bottom 5, Atlanta and Cincinnati have connectors, thus traffic is always a mess in these cities because you have pass-through traffic from two major interstates combining into one road. Either traffic will always slow to a crawl or an accident will shut down the entire expressway and then you're stuck without alternative routes. In Austin, despite a metro of over 2 million and significant growth, they have a grand total of 1 interstate serving the entire region (not sure how they do it).
Last edited by citidata18; 08-30-2020 at 02:30 PM..
In Austin, despite a metro of over 2 million and significant growth, they have a grand total of 1 interstate serving the entire region (not sure how they do it).
Orlando's the same, but at least I-4 is undergoing a multi-billion dollar 21 mile long rebuild. It's also complemented with a pretty impressive network of toll expressways.
I've driven in all of the choices in the poll, and I voted for Phoenix. It's the best by far, in my opinion.
Orlando's the same, but at least I-4 is undergoing a multi-billion dollar 21 mile long rebuild. It's also complemented with a pretty impressive network of toll expressways.
I've driven in all of the choices in the poll, and I voted for Phoenix. It's the best by far, in my opinion.
Which leads me to ask: Why were the two Missouri metropolises left off the poll?
Both tend to get high marks for ease of travel and lack of congestion on their freeway networks.
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