L101 E of 16th Street (Scottsdale, Cave Creek: fit in, move to, cars)

[WyattE]

Hello, I've been considering a move to the Phx area for a few years now and like to research areas and information via online. While visiting ADOT web cams to review traffic in and around Phx, I always noticed that the L101 E of 16th Street cam seems like there is always a huge traffic jam in this area. I understand it is related to rush hour but my question is, why is this area(I'm sure there are others) so congested? Are they looking to resolve this problem or is it just a rush hour issue?

[ElleTea]

That area is a bit backed up east in the mornings and west in the afternoons most likely due to the SR 51 freeway dumping traffic onto the 101 not too far east of there. In my experience it is just a morning (eastbound) and afternoon (westbound) commute issue, and wrecks are common in that area. When I used to commute from Deer Valley to North Scottsdale I would take Deer Valley Road to 56th Street and get on the 101 there to avoid it all.

[Zippyman]

It is a rush-hour issue primarily- both 7th st and 7ave dump a lot of traffic onto the 101 right before the 101/I17 split. So you've got a lot of traffic sorting itself out (some trying to stay on the 101, some intending to go north or south on I17) in a very short distance. A few years back, I17 was tinkered with in that area, which just kinda moved the traffic hairball from the I17 to the 101. Highways always slow down at intersections & too many intersections too close together inevitably leads to this kind of thing. Builders & businesses want on-ramps & commuters want limited-access freeways. Builders win in AZ.

That said, I don't think it's as bad in person as it might look on a traffic cam- the 17 is only a couple miles away & traffic smooths out right after that, plus - you can stay on Beardsley road instead of jumping on the 101 if you notice the hairball forming.

[ScottsdaleMark]

There's often an accident off on the right shoulder if you're going westbound on the Loop 101 between the SR-51 and I-17. I see more accidents there than I do anywhere else I drive in the Valley, so this would fit in with what you're observing online.

The 101-West gets increasingly clogged the further west you go from the Scottsdale Airpark area. In the afternoon/evening you're already picking up a ton of cars from the Airpark; if it's the morning, that's not so much an issue but all of the subsequent things are issues. As you proceed west, you pick up a lot more cars at Hayden and Scottsdale since N. Scottsdale is underserved in arterial N/S options. Then there's always way too much traffic coming and going from Tatum which is just always packed with cars, and then the 51 comes into it almost immediately thereafter. And then the tipping point is often that there's always a bunch of traffic coming off Cave Creek as well.

So you have acquired your highest volume of cars just as the roadway goes through some curves and elevation changes as it goes through those little foothills there, and people just can't handle it. They don't keep their following distance and start plowing into each other.

What's interesting about it is how many are 3+ vehicle accidents. I've seen more than half a dozen sometimes.