St Louis Doesn't Suck (St. Louis: new home, buy, to live in)

[billiken]

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

I agree that St. Louis traffic is terrible. I think it's almost as bad as Chicago's, but Chicago covers more area, so if you have to get from one side of town to the other, it takes longer in Chicago. I am not an engineer, but it seems to me the reason it's so bad here is that the highways are poorly designed. As someone else mentioned, 64 is pretty unimpressive..(by the way, what other city would just shut down the WHOLE highway for a year?..I have never heard of such a thing). The area where you jump on to 170 from Hanley is a mess. There are always people left in the middle after the light has changed, honking, fingers flashing, etc. They shut the whole darn thing down, and that is the best they could do?

I'm not a huge fan of how they redesigned the highway as well, particularly the area between 170 and Skinker, but I was a huge fan of the way they shut down whole sections for 1 year instead of having constant construction for 6-8 years at a higher cost. I was very impressed by how it was done on time and under budget--something that frankly never seemed to happen in Chicago or NY State.

[stlcitygirl]

I'm sorry, but anyone who says STL traffic is on par with DC or Chicago is on crack. My husband has had several offers to move to DC, but the #1 reason he won't is traffic, followed by extremely high cost of living. I personally love the area, but for his job, he would have to be driving around all the time, and its just not worth it to him.

[marigolds6]

Originally Posted by yahmiefan

I've lived in St. Louis, New Orleans, and now Washington, D.C., and I have to say that St. Louis DOES have the worst traffic I have *ever* seen. Have you tried commuting between downtown or Clayton and the West County burbs on a daily basis? I lived in Chesterfield, and my commute was HELL every day. I've seen 27-car-pileups (like the one on 64 back in Feb/March of this year), and I've seen minor accidents, but the worst part was when there was nothing. No accident, no construction -- the traffic just didn't *move* for hours. It didn't matter whether I woke up at 6 am or 7 am -- I was always late for work.

Um, I commute from West County to Clayton regularly, and at 8 am the drive takes me under 20 minutes. Even in the 2008 ice storm I made the drive in under an hour, and that was after helping 6 other cars stuck on the road, and having to drive between two jackknifed semis on Olive.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by marigolds6

Um, I commute from West County to Clayton regularly, and at 8 am the drive takes me under 20 minutes. Even in the 2008 ice storm I made the drive in under an hour, and that was after helping 6 other cars stuck on the road, and having to drive between two jackknifed semis on Olive.

Funny how all those 27 car pile-ups never made the news.
(From the poster you quoted)

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by stlcitygirl

I'm sorry, but anyone who says STL traffic is on par with DC or Chicago is on crack. My husband has had several offers to move to DC, but the #1 reason he won't is traffic, followed by extremely high cost of living. I personally love the area, but for his job, he would have to be driving around all the time, and its just not worth it to him.

Agree completely. There is nothing here that I can say remotely compares to dealing with Chicago, NYC, LA, Bay Area, DC, or Boston traffic. If anything, we have an oversupply of interstate lanes now:

Urban Mobility Report Points to Overbuilt Roads in St. Louis | nextSTL

Anyone doubting this is invited to try to drive to DT St. Louis from Weldon Spring in the morning (6:30 to 8:30) and then do the same from Naperville to DT Chicago (6am to 9am). Same 30 mile distance, but very different results.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

Agree completely. There is nothing here that I can say remotely compares to dealing with Chicago, NYC, LA, Bay Area, DC, or Boston traffic. If anything, we have an oversupply of interstate lanes now:

Urban Mobility Report Points to Overbuilt Roads in St. Louis | nextSTL

Anyone doubting this is invited to try to drive to DT St. Louis from Weldon Spring in the morning (6:30 to 8:30) and then do the same from Naperville to DT Chicago (6am to 9am). Same 30 mile distance, but very different results.

Seriously!

I would additionally add that it's the "reverse" commute that really shows you the difference. The typical suburb-to-city commutes in St. Louis can occasionally be bad, but it's that reverse commute (or lack thereof) in places like Chicago -- in which I commuted every day that really shows you the huge difference. I drove from Wicker Park to Lemont -- fewer than 30 miles -- and regularly had commute times of an hour and a half.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Seriously!

I would additionally add that it's the "reverse" commute that really shows you the difference. The typical suburb-to-city commutes in St. Louis can occasionally be bad, but it's that reverse commute (or lack thereof) in places like Chicago -- in which I commuted every day that really shows you the huge difference. I drove from Wicker Park to Lemont -- fewer than 30 miles -- and regularly had commute times of an hour and a half.

I feel your pain. I used to have a reverse commute from Wicker Park (getting on the Kennedy at North Ave) going to Glenview near Lake St. and the Tri-State. If I didn't get on the road by 6:45 to 7am, I would just pull straight onto a parking lot. It was often easier to take Milwaukee Ave all the way out to the client than it was to take the highway.

[billiken]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

I feel your pain. I used to have a reverse commute from Wicker Park (getting on the Kennedy at North Ave) going to Glenview near Lake St. and the Tri-State. If I didn't get on the road by 6:45 to 7am, I would just pull straight onto a parking lot. It was often easier to take Milwaukee Ave all the way out to the client than it was to take the highway.

Haha, my mom works near that intersection as well--she pretty much exclusively takes Milwaukee Ave, especially now that tolls are doubling(yet another reason to love St Louis commuting--no tolls!!).

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by billiken

Haha, my mom works near that intersection as well--she pretty much exclusively takes Milwaukee Ave, especially now that tolls are doubling(yet another reason to love St Louis commuting--no tolls!!).

No tolls are great, but to be honest, I don't mind paying for the road I drive on that way...so long as I have an EZ Pass system.

Way off subject here, but as a public service announcement to anyone going up to Chicago when the toll plazas really back up (as in 20+ minute wait issues). You can blow the toll and go through the iZoom/iPass/EZ pass lanes. Just note the toll plaza and time and go to IDot's web site to pay the toll later. You need to pay within a day or two and you get a couple of free passes a year. I would do this twice a year and save myself 90 minutes at a cost of 5 minutes total online.

[moorlander]

Originally Posted by chicagoerin

I agree that St. Louis traffic is terrible. I think it's almost as bad as Chicago's, but Chicago covers more area, so if you have to get from one side of town to the other, it takes longer in Chicago. I am not an engineer, but it seems to me the reason it's so bad here is that the highways are poorly designed. As someone else mentioned, 64 is pretty unimpressive..(by the way, what other city would just shut down the WHOLE highway for a year?..I have never heard of such a thing). The area where you jump on to 170 from Hanley is a mess. There are always people left in the middle after the light has changed, honking, fingers flashing, etc. They shut the whole darn thing down, and that is the best they could do?

I live right there and find the area very easy to navigate. Sure it's congested but consider what you have right there (Clayton CBD, Brentwood industrial park, 2 highways, and the largest concentration of retail in the metro area.

Highway 40/64 is MUCH MUCH improved from where it was prior and is WIDE open 22hrs of the day. MODOT could have added an additional lane between Hampton and 170 but all that would have done is increase sprawl, displace even more residents, and cost another hundred million. A highway with no traffic is a highway overbuilt.

And regarding the shutdown. Keep in mind that almost every parallel route was improved prior to the 3 yr shutdown. More turn lanes were added, medians removed, and traffic lights timed so getting around wasn't too much trouble. The sky did not fall.