Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Traffic of American cultures...
I've had the opportunity to be stuck in traffic jams in many American cities, and am often struck by the way that each city has its own archetypal traffic jam. Here are just a few of my favorites-- feel free to add your own observations.
Chicago
I have long been baffled by the way traffic works in Chicago. Here is the routine: The entire freeway is at a dead halt, just stopped. There is no obvious reason-- a closed lane, and accident, or bad weather. Then, suddenly, the traffic starts to go, and suddenly you are whipping along at 60... for two miles, at which point the whole thing inexplicably ends and you sit again for a while.
Detroit
Detroit, unlike Chicago, offers up a reason for traffic jams, and it is almost always the same kind of awful, terrible reason-- a horrifying accident. A truck completely overturned with its load of ball bearings all over the road? Seen it. A car perched precariously upside-down halfway off an overpass with a pair of legs sticking out a window? Seen it. Three cars on fire in the middle of the freeway with people running around? Seen it.
LA
The Los Angeles traffic jam usually has the same cause: congestion. Unlike the midwestern jams described above, they just move very slowly, creeping along...
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I know just what you mean about Chicago. I'm afraid I haven't yet had the pleasure of being stuck in Detroit or LA.
There is a good deal to be said for wide open spaces between cars and houses and people,spaces that let one breathe and repose and concentrate on safely operating a hurtling mass of metal. I advocate for backroads cruising.
# posted by 
: 8:59 AM
: 8:59 AM
I find it incredulous that you didn't site observations about traffic jams in Waco...
# posted by : 10:23 AM
: 10:23 AM
Charlotte - 760,000 people on I-77 without any clue how to use a turn signal, gas pedal, brakes, or a car in general.
# posted by : 10:29 AM
: 10:29 AM
Well, anon., Minneapolis is an interesting case...
From what I can tell, traffic moves pretty smoothly except for a few chokepoints that are always a disaster, like the tunnel on I-94 in Minneapolis, or the interchange between Highway 100 and I-394, which are the product of bad design.
Also (and I'm not making this up) there are temporary "ice roads" across the lakes in the winter. Didn't have that in Waco!
From what I can tell, traffic moves pretty smoothly except for a few chokepoints that are always a disaster, like the tunnel on I-94 in Minneapolis, or the interchange between Highway 100 and I-394, which are the product of bad design.
Also (and I'm not making this up) there are temporary "ice roads" across the lakes in the winter. Didn't have that in Waco!
The only traffic jams we have in N. Durham county are caused by the county road crews that inevitably send you on a 10 mile detour. Or the occasional cow crossing.
Now Tampa traffic is a whole different ballgame. Lots of road construction and 4 bridges over the same bay. Always snarled during the morning and evening drive time.
Now Tampa traffic is a whole different ballgame. Lots of road construction and 4 bridges over the same bay. Always snarled during the morning and evening drive time.
You did not mention DC. Traffic coming from all directions to at least two major hubs -- the City itself, which is accessible only by bridge for about 60% of those commuting, and Tyson's Corner, which has more office space than most American cities... but no surface roads that make any sense at all.
Mostly just slow congestion like L.A.
San Francisco's commuting traffic is pretty ugly too.
Mostly just slow congestion like L.A.
San Francisco's commuting traffic is pretty ugly too.
Houston: go really, really fast even though you don't know where you're going. Once you realize you don't know where you're going, pull a u-turn from whatever lane you happen to be in. Or just stop and start asking someone on the side of the road where to go, and everyone will slam on their brakes behind you. Or just park and leave your car in whatever lane its in, for a few minutes or for the whole day -- the choice is yours. No one was using that second lane anyways!
The interchange between 100 and 394 is awful. Who ever designed that should be shunned from the road design community.
# posted by : 7:21 PM
: 7:21 PM
@Robert - it is hard to believe you can be stuck in Detroit given no one really lives there anymore. One has been known to disappear into a pothole in Detroit were I-94 and I-75 cross pathes.
Traffic is so bad in Madrid that I have taken to riding commuter trains and the underground because above ground is not just slow, it's impossible.
Traffic on 50th Street in Edina, Minnesota, often slows to a crawl at the end of weekdays, nearly doubling the time of my commute home to the neighboring City of St. Louis Park. It can take, like, ten minutes or so to travel door to door under those extreme conditions. Sheesh.
Edina: Traffic comes to a screeeching halt because of some fitness enthusiasts have to run a 10K some cyclists are cheering them on, There is a parade celebrating Coffee that is Hand Roasted, and a log jam of healthy well-adjusted children at the corner of Yuppie and Bliss trying to get to soccer practice. Sometimes also happens at Target when the Shin Guards go on sale...
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