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Let's start with Salt Lake City. Southbound, you run into Brigham City, and it just gets worse on I-15 for another 60 miles, through Ogden, Layton, North Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, Midvale, Provo. The entire experience can be a nightmare, with heavy traffic, the entire trip can take 2+ hours. I-215, the western beltway can save some time, check traffic reports.
Another is Seattle/Tacoma. Going Northbound on I-5, one can run into backups from Olympia, to Fort Lewis, to Tacoma, to Federal Way, to Renton, into downtown, then North Seattle, then Lynnwood, then Everett. I-405, the eastern beltway can save some time, (not usually), check traffic reports.
I-95 southbound from the DC Beltway as far south as Fredericksburg, VA (40 miles) is often a parking lot after 3pm and have never seen anything of that magnitude for such a long distance. On one occasion for me it was like that to just north of Richmond, which is nearly 100 miles and lasted three hours, with no signs of an accident...rather sheer volume.
The most difficult border in the world to cross is not the North Korea-South Korea border, it is the Illinois-Indiana border. Horribly inadequate highways outside Chicago, and neither state will spend a dime to improve a road that just goes to another state. Way more traffic than they are planned for, always accidents blocking lanes, and the construction crews seem to be laughing at the long tie-ups of multiple lanes while they stand there and look at a pothole. A sign advises you to turn to a radio frequency for "traffic information" and all it does is repeat over and over again a warning that speeding fines are doubled in construction zones, when you are lucky if you are moving at all.
Manhattan, and much of New York City is a dense, urban grid of congested streets. However, there are metro areas with a lot worst traffic and congestion than greater New York. Driving south on the NJ turnpike, it dosen't take too long to start seeing farms and trees.
New York is bad, that's a given. Big city built on islands, never a good combination for traffic.
But some of the worst traffic I have ever sat in is in Arlington, VA. I was shocked that there is a place where the traffic is worse than the NY/NJ metro area.
Freeways are pretty easy to drive on, even if there is traffic.
Not when you have to get over 5 lanes and nobody lets you in and is driving faster than you. Then you have to be a very aggressive driver if you aren't already.
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