An Example of Why I Left Maryland (Baltimore, Silver Spring: condo, school)

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by King_of_DC

On a serious note (since you seem so serious), you should do like I do... plan your travel time ahead. If you decide to travel through Maryland at rush hour, I'm not sure that is a Maryland issue.

Don't tell me, your wife tells you when to leave as well. Got it.

Just kidding...

I try to do that usually, but it's tough on the way up since I'd have to leave around 6 AM to beat the DC/Baltimore traffic, or else leave around 1 and get there at midnight.

I was expecting to hit some traffic, just not 3 hours worth. However I do think the fact that rush hour is 4+ hours long is a Maryland issue.

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

So, you hate an entire state because a serious automobile accident caused a traffic jam at a certain location?

Okay, I suppose that sounds logical.

Which is precisely why I said it was an example of why I left Maryland.

Of course something like that could have happened anywhere. But the fact that Maryland has some of the worst overall traffic in the country makes it more likely to happen in Maryland.

Crabcakes, Patterson Park, and my friends that still live there are just about the only things about Maryland I like. I certainly don't miss the abundance of rude and/or snobby people (of course not all were), the endless traffic, road construction that never makes any progress, speed camera traps (and no I've never gotten a ticket from one), the fact that no one knows how to properly make a pizza (not being a NJ/NY/PA pizza snob as they do actually have good pizza in NC), and just the overall dirtiness in many areas.

[King_of_DC]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

I try to do that usually, but it's tough on the way up since I'd have to leave around 6 AM to beat the DC/Baltimore traffic, or else leave around 1 and get there at midnight.

I was expecting to hit some traffic, just not 3 hours worth. However I do think the fact that rush hour is 4+ hours long is a Maryland issue.

Not a Maryland issue... it is clearly your fault. You know the situation, yet you put yourself in it and then complain about it.

If you were a basketball player, you would get cramps in the last part of the 4th quarter, when your team needed you the most.

Your posts are funny though... I'm sure you can't be serious...

[bande1102]

I see the Op's point. I'm in AA county. Rt 3/301/97/50/2, even 450 and 424 can become a nightmare. Rush hours are extending. If there is an accident (or busted pipe as in the case of 50EB a few days ago that shut down ALL lanes on 50EB) on the main highways, forget it, traffic can be snarled for hours. It's getting harder and harder to avoid the traffic. Even my favorite back roads are starting to get more traffic.

What really worries me, though, are the dangerous drivers. I can't tell you how many people run redlights on Rt3. Or fail to stay in their own lane on Rt 50. Or, who realize they are in a turn only lane and then simply switch lanes at the last minute, cutting the other driver off.

Quite frankly, I'd like to see police issuing more tickets for those traffic offenses instead of speeding tickets, but that's another thread.

[King_of_DC]

Originally Posted by bande1102

I see the Op's point. I'm in AA county. Rt 3/301/97/50/2, even 450 and 424 can become a nightmare. Rush hours are extending. If there is an accident (or busted pipe as in the case of 50EB a few days ago that shut down ALL lanes on 50EB)

Yea, in the rest of the United States and the world, people drive right through busted pipes. Only in Maryland does a busted pipe equate to bad traffic.

[Richard Martin]

Originally Posted by King_of_DC

Yea, in the rest of the United States and the world, people drive right through busted pipes. Only in Maryland does a busted pipe equate to bad traffic.

Actually, it was a sink hole caused by a drainage pipe collapse. There was an easy drive around the problem area (the ramp for Aris T Allen Blvd) so they closed the whole road for safety's sake. It took less than 24 hours to fix the problem. Bad traffic is one of the prices that one pays for living in such a popular area. Some of us choose to give up the amenities of AA Co and MD and choose to live where there aren't as many people. You do give up some things by choosing to do so but there are some definite advantages too.



Image courtesy of Route 50 reopens after sinkhole repaired - DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by King_of_DC

Not a Maryland issue... it is clearly your fault. You know the situation, yet you put yourself in it and then complain about it.

If you were a basketball player, you would get cramps in the last part of the 4th quarter, when your team needed you the most.

Your posts are funny though... I'm sure you can't be serious...

So you really see no difference between rush hour and it taking 3 hours to go 2 miles only to be forced to make a u-turn because there was no warning that the road was closed ahead and there was no alternate route?

If so, the fact that you think something like that is no big deal just goes to show how bad the traffic in Maryland really is.

Your posts are funny though... I'm sure you can't be serious.

[King_of_DC]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

So you really see no difference between rush hour and it taking 3 hours to go 2 miles only to be forced to make a u-turn because there was no warning that the road was closed ahead and there was no alternate route?

If so, the fact that you think something like that is no big deal just goes to show how bad the traffic in Maryland really is.

Your posts are funny though... I'm sure you can't be serious.

I'm not serious.

Want me to be serious? Here you go: I think it is great some people in the world (including me) can whine about trivial things... it is a testament of the luxury our Service men and women provide us through their daily sacrifices.

Joking again: Heck I can't even complain about metro... it ran within 30 seconds of scheduled today. Should have had a breakdown so I could tell everyone how terrible Maryland is!!!!

I get a kick out of your posts though... you can't make this stuff up. Honestly.

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by King_of_DC

you can't make this stuff up. Honestly.

I know, right? That was exactly what I thought when I ran into the situation described in the OP. Clearly you think I'm just complaining about normal traffic when that isn't the case. With normal traffic you're at least getting somewhere, albeit slowly. In this instance it was just incredibly frustrating to first sit in traffic for hours, only to be forced to make a u-turn and sit in some more traffic so I could go opposite of the direction I was trying to go with no suggestion for an alternate route. I've driven in a lot of different states and that was the first time something like that has happened, so yes I do think the fact that it happened in Maryland was not a coincidence.

Obviously sitting in normal traffic or even sitting in much worse than normal traffic isn't the end of the world, but I am very glad I don't have to deal with it on a daily basis anymore.

[dkf747]

I've lived in four states, and am really good at finding alternate routes. However, I have face traffic in all the major cities where there were no alternatives but to just put up with it. It happens a little more often here, but it happens elsewhere too. I suggest moving way out in the sticks if you can't handle it.

[Grasonville]

Originally Posted by Richard Martin

This was Annapolis on May 29. An accident on the Severn River Bridge going eastbound and an accident on I-97 headed northbound. Count them. 9 lanes of standstill traffic. You can have that nonsense.

Who in their right mind travels on Route 50 or 97 or the Severn River Bridge or the Chesapeake Bay Bridge anytime between May and September?

Oh that's right- people like me

My favorite is when heading eastbound on 50 - just before the Severn River Bridge - drivers hug that right lane - knowing full well it ends just before the bridge - and then attempt the big traffic lane cut-in.

Times like that I wish I was driving a tank so I could block them over and make them wait.