50 Worst Traffic Bottlenecks In America

[sparker]

Having lived in the Bay Area for 24 years, maybe my perspective's a bit off, but US 101 from the I-280/680 interchange in San Jose north to at least Palo Alto seems like it would easily qualify (who knows, maybe it'd be #101 [now that would be appropriate] on the list -- "missed it by that much") for inclusion here.  Also, the I-80/US 101 junction right in SF might be right up there as well (best to avoid both of these from 6-9 am and 2:30-7 pm).  In any case, I've encountered about a third of the cited congestion spots in my various travels, so I, for one, wouldn't doubt at least its prima facie validity. 

[coatimundi]

[Bumping this thread with a new story just out on the same topic]

Washington Post: The 100 worst traffic bottlenecks on U.S. highways

The title of the original study seems to have led to a misleading interpretation by the Post: "2017 Top 100 Truck Bottleneck List".

So a lot of the bottlenecks that plague typical commuter traffic will be missing. I was shocked to see that GA 400 was not on the list initially, but this explains why.

[Revive 755]

[Bumping this thread with a new story just out on the same topic]

The list is missing a few candidates from Chicago, such as the I-90/I-290/IL 53 cloverleaf (plenty of trucks backing up there for the WB I-290 to WB I-90 loop), as well as the I-290/I-294 interchange (plenty of trucks usually in the queues for the NB to WB loop and the EB to SB ramp).

They don't have the routes right for the interchange at the west end of the PSB in St. Louis either - I-70 has not run through that interchange for almost three years now.  It has also been over a year since the ramp from the Depressed Section onto the PSB was removed (the ramp is still shown on the map).

[kurumi]

[Bumping this thread with a new story just out on the same topic]

Washington Post: The 100 worst traffic bottlenecks on U.S. highways

Other than Fort Lee [at #2], the fabled northeastern congestion doesn't resurface on the bottleneck list until Brooklyn weighs in at 37th with the conjunction of I-278 and the Belt Parkway.

TIL Hartford (#24, I-84/I-91) is not in the northeast. That location is down 4 from the previous year, probably because other areas leapfrogged it.

I-95 in Norwalk around US 7 (#47) is down 16 from the previous year, possibly because an auxiliary SB lane opened to traffic on July 31, 2015 (source).

There are five other entries for Connecticut, including I-84/CT 8 (up 19 to #68)

[cpzilliacus]

[Bumping this thread with a new story just out on the same topic]

Washington Post: The 100 worst traffic bottlenecks on U.S. highways

The title of the original study seems to have led to a misleading interpretation by the Post: "2017 Top 100 Truck Bottleneck List".

So a lot of the bottlenecks that plague typical commuter traffic will be missing. I was shocked to see that GA 400 was not on the list initially, but this explains why.

Agreed that the Post should have put truck in the heading. 

Yes, there are certainly places where "regular" freeway congestion also impacts truck traffic, but even on this list, for example, I find I-278 at Belt Parkway suspect (yes, I-278 (Gowanus Expressway) is frequently and severely congested), but because trucks are banned from the Belt Parkway.

It's also annoying (and potentially misleading to users of the list, though not members of this forum) when congested places on the Capital Beltway are placed in the District of Columbia when they should be (and are) in Maryland.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'm surprised none of mass 128 made it on the list.

[davewiecking]

I'm surprised none of mass 128 made it on the list.

...other than numbers 72 and 80...

[hotdogPi]

I'm surprised none of mass 128 made it on the list.

...other than numbers 72 and 80...

The initial list only has 50 entries, not 100.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'm surprised none of mass 128 made it on the list.

...other than numbers 72 and 80...

Well, it does say top 50...

[davewiecking]

Apologies for not realizing that today's bump of the thread superseded the January bump, effectively returning this thread to the original December 2015 conversation.