Commuting Traffic - Oy!

[Mr._Graybeard]

Sort of ironic that Chicago took first considering the great options for public transit here:

Whenever we use O'Hare we always take the bus there. The saving on the cost of parking pays for the bus fare from Milwaukee and then some.

 

[Texas Proud]

Instead we get this.

"Oh gee, I am merging on a high speed road. I better slow down!"

"Oh gee, that's scary, I better stop and wait for a gap."

Meanwhile, behind this guy Sarah and Joe are going crazy as we're stuck in a slug of traffic that now can never merge properly and will just hose up traffic badly and send a shockwave of stop and go backward.

Nice, one person starts a traffic jam. This is not theory. It happens.

Apparently, some of FUEGO's associates are working on metering ramps on the previously mentioned 540 (non-toll section). This will help, IF PEOPLE LEARN TO USE THEIR GAS PEDAL.

OK, I'll stop shouting now.

You ER'd people not stuck in OMY? Count your blessings.

There was metering in Houston.... did not work since half the cars ignored the red light and the people that would normally slow down now stop completely and then slowly go on....

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Reading through these reminded me why I left Minneapolis many years ago. For the entire last 30 years of w*rk my commute was 18 miles with one stop sign and took 25 minutes from backing out of my garage to sitting at my desk.

As a career commuter I often felt fortunate that I was driving into Milwaukee. The sprawl is fairly limited for a city of its population. Whenever I go through the Twin Cities the size of (and time it takes to traverse) the metro area sticks with me.

 

[aaronc879]

As a career commuter I often felt fortunate that I was driving into Milwaukee. The sprawl is fairly limited for a city of its population. Whenever I go through the Twin Cities the size of (and time it takes to traverse) the metro area sticks with me.

I guess it's all relative. I live in a smaller area 100 miles north of Milwaukee and I think the traffic there is bad enough. I avoid Milwaukee whenever possible during rush hours. I would never work in a city the size of Milwaukee or larger unless I could afford to live within walking distance of work.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I guess it's all relative. I live in a smaller area 100 miles north of Milwaukee and I think the traffic there is bad enough. I avoid Milwaukee whenever possible during rush hours. I would never work in a city the size of Milwaukee or larger unless I could afford to live within walking distance of work.

Milwaukee is a walk in the park compared to Chicago. Or the Twin Cities, for that matter.

When I was commuting my workplace was 43 miles from home. I worked in the heart of downtown, and I live at the very edge of exurbia (my neighbors are farmers). If I didn't run an errand on the way to work it would take me about 50 minutes from door to door. That said, I nearly always worked the "lobster shift" (starting in the afternoon and working int the evening) so I avoided rush hours.

 

[aaronc879]

Milwaukee is a walk in the park compared to Chicago. Or the Twin Cities, for that matter.

I've never been to the Twin Cities but agree Chicago is much worse than Milwaukee. I will never again drive into Chicago and will only drive near Chicago in passing if it's between 11pm-3am.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Instead we get this.

"Oh gee, I am merging on a high speed road. I better slow down!"

"Oh gee, that's scary, I better stop and wait for a gap."

Meanwhile, behind this guy Sarah and Joe are going crazy as we're stuck in a slug of traffic that now can never merge properly and will just hose up traffic badly and send a shockwave of stop and go backward.

Nice, one person starts a traffic jam. This is not theory. It happens.

Are you in San Antonio by any chance?!? This was always an issue at the clover leaf intersections (I-10 and 1604 for example). People EXITING the interstate have a "Yield" sign for the people coming around a circle at 8 MPH. The rule there must be something like "If you see ANYTHING within 1/4 of a mile coming around the ramp, you must STOP." Do these idiots not understand that the people entering and the people exiting just simply want to SWITCH places?!? Thank GOD people here in ATL don't do that. The traffic is bad enough, I can't imagine what it would be like if the San Antonio driving style made it's way over here!!!

We have metered ramps here too and as far as I can tell, they do a good job. I can't really figure out the usage though...sometimes when you think they would be used, they aren't and vice versa.

Oh...so glad I don't have to play in that madness anymore.

 

[REWahoo]

Oh...so glad I don't have to play in that madness anymore.

Even if you live here you don't have to play in that madness once you are retired.

 

[FUEGO]

Maybe I should un-retire...

 

[RunningBum]

Kind of laughing at the notion that Raleigh was a sleepy little town until the mid 90s. I moved there in the mid 80s, when there was no I-540, I-40 was 2 lanes, no Alexander extension, no Davis Dr into Cary. Commutes could be horrible if anything went wrong, and even a good day was slow. I'm sure it had been bad before then. Roads and lanes get added and alleviate things for awhile, then development catches up and it's just as bad as before.

RTP was a great idea and it looks pleasant with all the buildings tucked amongst the trees, but it locked out pretty much any chance for effective mass transit because there's no real concentration of workers anywhere.

I felt kind of bad for the long-time residents who really do remember Raleigh as a sleepy town before RTP came about in the 60s. Lots of good came from the growth in the form of health care and a good economy, but it changed a lot, not all good.

In the early years I just had to deal with it, but later on I had enough flexibility to shift my schedule early or late to avoid the worst of it, and finally I set my self up for full-time telecommuting.

 

[harley]

Are you in San Antonio by any chance?!? This was always an issue at the clover leaf intersections (I-10 and 1604 for example). People EXITING the interstate have a "Yield" sign for the people coming around a circle at 8 MPH. The rule there must be something like "If you see ANYTHING within 1/4 of a mile coming around the ramp, you must STOP." Do these idiots not understand that the people entering and the people exiting just simply want to SWITCH places?!? Thank GOD people here in ATL don't do that. The traffic is bad enough, I can't imagine what it would be like if the San Antonio driving style made it's way over here!!!

I always thought that right of way was determined by mass and speed. When all things are equal, my rule has always been "the right of way belongs to whoever takes it." As Alfred Lord Tennyson wisely said, "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

 

[JoeWras]

Kind of laughing at the notion that Raleigh was a sleepy little town until the mid 90s. I moved there in the mid 80s, when there was no I-540, I-40 was 2 lanes, no Alexander extension, no Davis Dr into Cary. Commutes could be horrible if anything went wrong, and even a good day was slow. I'm sure it had been bad before then. Roads and lanes get added and alleviate things for awhile, then development catches up and it's just as bad as before.

RTP was a great idea and it looks pleasant with all the buildings tucked amongst the trees, but it locked out pretty much any chance for effective mass transit because there's no real concentration of workers anywhere.

Well, there was this one sweet period, like 1991-92, where they seemed to catch up on many roads, building was stagnant, and there was a slight tech recession. If you recall, they had widened 40, finished 40 to the beach, and done a lot of secondary road widening. But it was just a pause until that Money Magazine article.

You are right, RTP changed everything.

Times change and RTP now has this idea of building a mixed residential and retail center. We'll see...

 

[FUEGO]

Ah, the good old days of Raleigh. We moved to Cary (about 500' from the Raleigh city line) back when Cary was small in the late 1980's. I could ride my bike to the other side of town pretty easily.