Sick of afternoon traffic, alternate route? (St. Louis, Joplin: dangerous, move, farmer)

[Jjmars]

Originally Posted by RisingAurvandil

I would suggest Conway Rd, Ladue Rd, or possibly Olive to 270 or Lindbergh.

Honestly, your commute time may be the culprit, and I realize that's probably beyond your control. I drive the same stretch, from O'Fallon to Maplewood. It only takes me 45 minutes, at 3:30 pm, for the entire drive. Of course, an accident or Blues game can lengthen it.

Couple of suggestions for Ladue and Olive. I will give those a shot. Thanks all.

[STLCityMike]

It seems like the construction on 44 has vastly deteriorated traffic on other roads. I work downtown and live very close, but when I try and head west after work for dinner or shopping, all roads in that direction are terrible right now - 44, 40, Manchester. It took me 50 minutes to get from Jefferson Avenue to Maplewood. That was very excessive to me.


I am also quit irritated with MODOT for reducing Chouteau to one lane in each direction - the intersection with Jefferson is terrible now. My commute home has significantly increased and I live 2.8 miles from work to home. When I try Lafayette instead (crossing Jefferson) am equally annoyed as there is now one lane of traffic headed west (one lane to be used for vehicles turning left AND those continuing west across Jefferson). Due to traffic volumes, those headed west are stuck behind vehicles that can not turn left onto Jefferson. Then vehicles hoping to make it west though the light end of using the bicycle lane to go around the stalled traffic. I wrote MODOT but their answer was pretty basic. They felt this was the best use for all types of traffic (pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular). I want to see their study. end rant!

[Jjmars]

Originally Posted by STLCityMike

It seems like the construction on 44 has vastly deteriorated traffic on other roads. I work downtown and live very close, but when I try and head west after work for dinner or shopping, all roads in that direction are terrible right now - 44, 40, Manchester. It took me 50 minutes to get from Jefferson Avenue to Maplewood. That was very excessive to me.


I am also quit irritated with MODOT for reducing Chouteau to one lane in each direction - the intersection with Jefferson is terrible now. My commute home has significantly increased and I live 2.8 miles from work to home. When I try Lafayette instead (crossing Jefferson) am equally annoyed as there is now one lane of traffic headed west (one lane to be used for vehicles turning left AND those continuing west across Jefferson). Due to traffic volumes, those headed west are stuck behind vehicles that can not turn left onto Jefferson. Then vehicles hoping to make it west though the light end of using the bicycle lane to go around the stalled traffic. I wrote MODOT but their answer was pretty basic. They felt this was the best use for all types of traffic (pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular). I want to see their study. end rant!

I agree the infrastructure in the area seems to be very poorly planned, executed, resolved or a combination of all three.

As others have said, traffic in St. Louis isn't nearly comparable to other cities in the US. However there is clearly a problem when it takes an hour to travel, quite frankly, very short distances around the area.

But hey, this could turn into a 'things I don't like about STL' thread.

[U146]

If you're going east there really is no good alternative route. From my experience the backroads are always slower than the actual traffic on the highway itself and usually they are crowded when the highway is crowded. But if I had to give any recommendations it probably would be Clayton or Ladue Road like many others on here have said. You can hop on all of those roads at Route 141 as they are all less than a mile from the 141/64 interchange.

[Angus215]

As a new resident, I have found traffic in St Louis to be non-existent, other than right during peak rush hour times. As someone else mentioned, if it's an option, changing your commute time by half an hour can make a big difference. Coming from Chesterfield, there just aren't a lot of options in terms of routes. I'm sure it will get better once the construction is done. I do have to say, STL has a phenomenal highway system (when it's not under construction),

[STL74]

Originally Posted by Angus215

As a new resident, I have found traffic in St Louis to be non-existent, other than right during peak rush hour times. As someone else mentioned, if it's an option, changing your commute time by half an hour can make a big difference. Coming from Chesterfield, there just aren't a lot of options in terms of routes. I'm sure it will get better once the construction is done. I do have to say, STL has a phenomenal highway system (when it's not under construction),

Things on that part of 40 are definitely worse than usual with the construction. 40 and 270 are the worst in general, but this is definitely a construction effect.

[Jjmars]

Originally Posted by Angus215

As a new resident, I have found traffic in St Louis to be non-existent, other than right during peak rush hour times. As someone else mentioned, if it's an option, changing your commute time by half an hour can make a big difference. Coming from Chesterfield, there just aren't a lot of options in terms of routes. I'm sure it will get better once the construction is done. I do have to say, STL has a phenomenal highway system (when it's not under construction),

It's interesting you have that opinion. I'm curious what your previous highway experience is. I completely disagree and feel that the highway system is pretty bad especially in the city limits.

[RisingAurvandil]

Originally Posted by Jjmars

It's interesting you have that opinion. I'm curious what your previous highway experience is. I completely disagree and feel that the highway system is pretty bad especially in the city limits.

Knowing where you've lived would be a good start. St. Louis doesn't compare to a big city in terms of traffic.

Compared to Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, etc, traffic here is a cakewalk. I can count all of our major bottlenecks on a single hand. And even our bottlenecks don't compare to elsewhere.

It has never taken me more than an hour to get anywhere in the metro during rush hour. For reference, I live in Maplewood.

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by Jjmars

It's interesting you have that opinion. I'm curious what your previous highway experience is. I completely disagree and feel that the highway system is pretty bad especially in the city limits.

I have lived in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Just the sheer number of interstate highways here is impressive for a city of its size, and they are generally maintained very well. In the case of 64/40, while construction is a pain, it's being done to expand the road so traffic will ultimately improve. But in the older and more congested areas on the east coast (not to mention LA), you can have traffic at just about any hour of any day. Living in those areas, it can be so difficult to get into the city that you just don't go very often. In STL, we can drive just about anywhere in the area we'd want to go (from Creve Coeur) in 20 minutes, other than during the peak hour or so on weekdays.

[Jjmars]

Originally Posted by RisingAurvandil

Knowing where you've lived would be a good start. St. Louis doesn't compare to a big city in terms of traffic.

Compared to Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, etc, traffic here is a cakewalk. I can count all of our major bottlenecks on a single hand. And even our bottlenecks don't compare to elsewhere.

It has never taken me more than an hour to get anywhere in the metro during rush hour. For reference, I live in Maplewood.

I've lived in Chicago, Seattle, grew up in Cleveland, spent a lot of time in DC.

I don't know if I qualify St. Louis as a big city, maybe that's why I get frustrated.