** Driving in Colorado - Denver area *** (Salida, Estes Park: best cities, hotel, neighborhoods)
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Hello
I recently made my 8th vacation to Colorado and noticed many things had changed. There is a LOT MORE traffic in Denver now and the population seems to have boomed to no end. We usually get a hotel in Denver and drive up to the mountains and get a hotel there for the night.
But driving in Denver was an absolute nightmare this time.
-4 lanes of highway with cramped cars being asked to drive at 75 miles an hour even when you are in close proximity to city areas.
-when you try to merge on the hwy and are prepared to increase your speed ...you get hit with a traffic light..there are no warning signals and the light is up a ramp so you cant even see it. You then have to slow down your car for the red light and then speed up again to merge with the maniacs. We have traffic merging control signals in houston too but they dont stay red for 10 minutes straight.
-people drive extremely aggressivly and almost run you off the road, they tailgate you to no end even in the slowest lane.
-people using high beams and blinding you while barreling down on top of you, i dont know if they forget to turn off their beams off from the mountains or what have you but i saw a lot of cars with high beams on. they would even position their cars behind me in a way so their lights would hit my side view mirrors and blind me...this happened NUMEROUS times during my visit..im not sure of this is a strategy they use on out of towners.
-people tailgating you going up mountain roads. I had a guy tailgate me all the way up to Estes Park. he passed me on a curve but another SUV did not want him going in front of them so he was stuck behind that SUV forever. i dont know what the point is to tailgate and harass people when you are just 2 car lengths ahead after doing all that drama.
-had another guy tailgate me in his bmw in the middle of the night when i was going to walmart...THE ENTIRE 3 LANE STREET WAS EMPTY but this driver TAILGATED ME till he turned and did the same thing about blinding me with his lights.
-for some reason i felt like if you had a out of state plate people were specially agressive towards you just for kicks.
I was extremely disapointed with Denver, I saw nothing but more people, more construction, more traffic. Its not the same place it was 5-6 years ago. When i visit CO again I dont plan to take a hotel in Denver at all..its become a little too crazy for me.
I come from road rage and traffic capital of Houston so we are on saints when it comes to bad driving.
But does anyone else in Colorado feel the same way? or is it just me?
-when you try to merge on the hwy and are prepared to increase your speed ...you get hit with a traffic light..there are no warning signals and the light is up a ramp so you cant even see it. You then have to slow down your car for the red light and then speed up again to merge with the maniacs. We have traffic merging control signals in houston too but they dont stay red for 10 minutes straight.
No metering ramp light stays red for 10 minutes. If it does it's broken, just run it.
Quote:
I was extremely disapointed with Denver, I saw nothing but more people, more construction, more traffic. Its not the same place it was 5-6 years ago. When i visit CO again I dont plan to take a hotel in Denver at all..its become a little too crazy for me.
Growth has its pros and cons. I live near downtown, and trust me I'm aware and have seen the increased traffic firsthand. The central area and surrounding neighborhoods are becoming more dense, so adaptation is necessary. Where were you going in Denver you needed to do so much driving? Airport-Denver-Estes Park and back is pretty straightforward.
I've driven all of the country and many large cities outside the U.S. as well. I wouldn't refuse to visit a place based on traffic alone. (Some of the best cities in the world have the worst traffic.) And, single and bad anecdotal experiences unfortunately make a lasting impression, but aren't really true as a whole. I had a guy pass me on the right shoulder two weeks ago in Michigan. But I realize that's not indicative of the majority of the populace.
Also Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park / Estes Park is a madhouse in the fall. I don't care for it - it's the Disneyworld of the Rockies and way, way, too crowded. And especially for a one night trip it seems really rushed -which of course increases stress.
Have you explored other parts of Colorado? San Luis Valley, Western Slope, or southern Wyoming?
I had a friend from the UK visiting last month, and of course he had RMNP on his list. I told him forget it and gave him a route including Breckenridge, Leadville, Buena Vista, and Salida - with some of my favorite (and empty) hikes and biking trails. He did it all, and made his way to Crested Butte as well (over 4-5 days) and loved it. And my route had minimal traffic, few people, and wide open spaces - and none of the bumper to bumper traffic and selfie sticks of RMNP.
Last edited by jamesdenver; 11-01-2015 at 06:47 PM..
The best cities of the world have the worse traffic because people want to live and visit there.
The best cities of the world are dense with people causing this worse traffic which creates the demand for exciting restaurants and entertainment and consequently that creates the need and economies of scale to afford to have extensive public transit.
The people creates the density which creates the traffic which creates the exciting venues which creates extensive public transit. Today it is known that many of the best and brightest to our city choose to live in a city with extensive public transit. They desire walkable neighborhoods to these exciting venues and choose to drive less. These of the best and brightest also bring innovation, creativity and new industries to our city.
From that traffic and density, Denver is now joining the other best cities of the nation and has been over these years creating extensive public transit.
Many of us have learned that if the option is there we take advantage of this extensive public transit. We then avoid the traffic, tailgater, crazy drivers, looking for parking spaces and able to enjoy what a dense city has to offer without the frustration of driving.
The one thing that still bothers and puzzles me to this day is the high beam use. I avoid driving on I-25 and I-70 at night because when there is moderate or heavier traffic in the opposite direction, driving on the 2 leftmost lanes can get you blind.
Hello
I recently made my 8th vacation to Colorado and noticed many things had changed. There is a LOT MORE traffic in Denver now and the population seems to have boomed to no end. We usually get a hotel in Denver and drive up to the mountains and get a hotel there for the night.
But driving in Denver was an absolute nightmare this time.
-4 lanes of highway with cramped cars being asked to drive at 75 miles an hour even when you are in close proximity to city areas.
-when you try to merge on the hwy and are prepared to increase your speed ...you get hit with a traffic light..there are no warning signals and the light is up a ramp so you cant even see it. You then have to slow down your car for the red light and then speed up again to merge with the maniacs. We have traffic merging control signals in houston too but they dont stay red for 10 minutes straight.
-people drive extremely aggressivly and almost run you off the road, they tailgate you to no end even in the slowest lane.
-people using high beams and blinding you while barreling down on top of you, i dont know if they forget to turn off their beams off from the mountains or what have you but i saw a lot of cars with high beams on. they would even position their cars behind me in a way so their lights would hit my side view mirrors and blind me...this happened NUMEROUS times during my visit..im not sure of this is a strategy they use on out of towners.
-people tailgating you going up mountain roads. I had a guy tailgate me all the way up to Estes Park. he passed me on a curve but another SUV did not want him going in front of them so he was stuck behind that SUV forever. i dont know what the point is to tailgate and harass people when you are just 2 car lengths ahead after doing all that drama.
-had another guy tailgate me in his bmw in the middle of the night when i was going to walmart...THE ENTIRE 3 LANE STREET WAS EMPTY but this driver TAILGATED ME till he turned and did the same thing about blinding me with his lights.
-for some reason i felt like if you had a out of state plate people were specially agressive towards you just for kicks.
I was extremely disapointed with Denver, I saw nothing but more people, more construction, more traffic. Its not the same place it was 5-6 years ago. When i visit CO again I dont plan to take a hotel in Denver at all..its become a little too crazy for me.
I come from road rage and traffic capital of Houston so we are on saints when it comes to bad driving.
But does anyone else in Colorado feel the same way? or is it just me?
I think it's just you. If you live in Houston, you should understand freeway on-ramp meters and heavy traffic.
The one thing that still bothers and puzzles me to this day is the high beam use. I avoid driving on I-25 and I-70 at night because when there is moderate or heavier traffic in the opposite direction, driving on the 2 leftmost lanes can get you blind.
People using high beams, and/or trucks/SUVs driving close behind me at night, and/or trucks/SUVs driving with an extra set of lights, is a pet peeve of mine. Police do nothing about this and imo it is more dangerous than speeding.
I am not believing OP stopped at a broken merge light for 10 minutes, people would be laying on their horns after 2 minutes.
Most people that live in Denver learn where and when to avoid traffic. Road construction is a B!&!*
Hello
I recently made my 8th vacation to Colorado and noticed many things had changed. There is a LOT MORE traffic in Denver now and the population seems to have boomed to no end. We usually get a hotel in Denver and drive up to the mountains and get a hotel there for the night.
But driving in Denver was an absolute nightmare this time.
-4 lanes of highway with cramped cars being asked to drive at 75 miles an hour even when you are in close proximity to city areas.
-when you try to merge on the hwy and are prepared to increase your speed ...you get hit with a traffic light..there are no warning signals and the light is up a ramp so you cant even see it. You then have to slow down your car for the red light and then speed up again to merge with the maniacs. We have traffic merging control signals in houston too but they dont stay red for 10 minutes straight.
-people drive extremely aggressivly and almost run you off the road, they tailgate you to no end even in the slowest lane.
-people using high beams and blinding you while barreling down on top of you, i dont know if they forget to turn off their beams off from the mountains or what have you but i saw a lot of cars with high beams on. they would even position their cars behind me in a way so their lights would hit my side view mirrors and blind me...this happened NUMEROUS times during my visit..im not sure of this is a strategy they use on out of towners.
-people tailgating you going up mountain roads. I had a guy tailgate me all the way up to Estes Park. he passed me on a curve but another SUV did not want him going in front of them so he was stuck behind that SUV forever. i dont know what the point is to tailgate and harass people when you are just 2 car lengths ahead after doing all that drama.
-had another guy tailgate me in his bmw in the middle of the night when i was going to walmart...THE ENTIRE 3 LANE STREET WAS EMPTY but this driver TAILGATED ME till he turned and did the same thing about blinding me with his lights.
-for some reason i felt like if you had a out of state plate people were specially agressive towards you just for kicks.
I was extremely disapointed with Denver, I saw nothing but more people, more construction, more traffic. Its not the same place it was 5-6 years ago. When i visit CO again I dont plan to take a hotel in Denver at all..its become a little too crazy for me.
I come from road rage and traffic capital of Houston so we are on saints when it comes to bad driving.
But does anyone else in Colorado feel the same way? or is it just me?
No, it's not just you. There are horrible drivers in Denver, and it's getting worse with people from all across the country that bring their driving habits with them. For the most part, people don't want to follow the rules of the road.
Most people do not use their high beams, it is just that lights today are much brighter than in the past and trucks and SUVs put that light at eye level if you are driving a car.
You also become more aware of the lights when you are driving in an unfamiliar dark place. If you routinely drive a certain route every day, you visualize what's ahead even if there are lights blinding you in the other direction. If you are driving in an unfamiliar place, you don't know what is ahead and you get anxious because you don't want to drive off the side of the mountain.
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