What is the most congested road(s) in your city/town?

[kkt]

Seattle.  So many congested roads.  But to pick:

Mercer St., as has been said already.

Runner ups, NE 45th St between Five Points (the intersection of NE 45th St., Union Bay Place, Mary Gates Drive, and NE 45th Place) and I-5.  Okay it's only about a mile and a half, but it often moves just one car length each light phase and there are about 20 lights.

Montlake Blvd, often takes 30 minutes to go a mile from NE 45th St to the Montlake Bridge.

[allniter89]

Here are some traffic numbers http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/20170414/crestviews-increasing-traffic-causes-accident-surge
Hands down winner in Crestview, FL is FL 85 (Ferdon Blvd) partically between the US 90 jct & the Shoal River bridge. 
FL 85 is the only continuos north south road thru the city.
The only alternative is Antioch Rd, a 2 lane road thru southern & western neighborhoods with a 35mph speed limit & few left or right turn lanes meaning if someone needs to make a left turn & there's oncoming traffic everyone behind the left turner must stop also.
Lucky lucky me, I live on the far east side of town just off US 90 & have a shortcut that involves 6 neighborhood streets 7 turns & only 2 stops signs. My shortcut is still quicker than going on FL 85 where the norm (NORM!!!  ) is waiting thru 2 green light cycles before getting thru the intersection  .
There is city council talk of building a bypass but the city has grown so quickly after the USAF sent a new squadron here that the bypass would have to be so far out of town it wouldnt be convienent.

[ftballfan]

Orlando area I would venture to say Semoran Blvd(SR 436).  I lived in Seminole county, so not as familiar with daily congestion in other areas of town

Any thoughts from Orlando peeps

I-4 is worse, of course.  However, you have parts of OBT especially at Landstreet Road and Taft- Vineland Road due to the warehouses and industrial facilities that create so much semi traffic that warrants short green signal timing and longer green timings on those other roads.

John Young at Sand Lake Road is a bottleneck because that signal is awkward and needs to be replaced with an interchange that should have been done when JYP was widened two years ago.  However, the budget did not allow for it then for some reason.  Two days ago I waited for four light changes there going SB on JYP.

I-Drive and all the roads around Disney are bad

[djsekani]

Metro Los Angeles. Ummm.... tough call, but I think the winner is definitely World Way, the road that goes through the LAX terminal horseshoe.

[Buffaboy]

In the Buffalo metro I believe (95% confident) it is Transit Road, NY 78. North south traffic traveling many miles on this trunk road intermix with local traffic causing heavy backlogs along the way. A widening attempted to mitigate these effects a couple years ago. IMO a highway running a couple miles to the east would alleviate the congestion but I don't know for sure.

Niagara Falls Blvd (US 62) and/or Sheridan Dr (NY 324) comes in second.

I think there's a road diet proposal for Sheridan (would take a lane from each direction to make bike lanes).

That would make sense west of NY 324. In the eastern portion, well that would be catastrophic.

[DJDBVT]

In my town, without a single traffic light, the answer is easy. VT 30, which is the only numbered highway in town. True congestion only occurs rarely, such as large town-sponsored events in the village center (when it becomes nearly impossible to get from one end of town to the other via 30, only once or twice a year, but us locals who know the back roads CAN get there from here), a particularly spectacular trial at the county courthouse (very rare, and that's more of a parking issue than a congestion issue), and weekends during foliage and ski seasons (lots of through tourist traffic). Of course any emergency event (crash, fire, etc) on 30 will create more issues it would than on any other road in town.

[slorydn1]

For me it's a toss up between MLK Jr Blvd or US-70 through James City. US-70 is really bad on a Friday afternoon/evening, especially during the summer when everybody and his brother leaves the Triangle to head to the beach.

[20160805]

In Menasha, WI (just south of Appleton), with County P (Racine Road) being closed, everyone takes WI 47 (Appleton Road).  WI 47 from WI 114 (Third Street) to just past Ninth Street is two lanes through a residential district.  It's not so much congested as just over capacity and handling double the average traffic level.  Yesterday going northbound away from this stretch, however, I did see a backup in the southbound far right lane extending two blocks before the 9th St light.

It doesn't help that the design of the intersection is poor going southbound anyway: the left lane splits off and becomes a left turn only lane and the right lane handles through and right-turning traffic.

The speed limit through the entire two-lane section is 25 mph, which nobody follows.  When the first 25 sign appears southbound a block before the 9th St light, everyone is still going about 33.

https://goo.gl/maps/ErFTwhz8Y9F2 - GSV of Congestion Central, going southbound half a block before the 9th St light.  This is half a block past the aforementioned 25 sign.

In all seriousness, though, College Ave (WI 125) and Wisconsin Ave (WI 96) in Grand Chute over by the Fox River Mall can both get pretty bad on weekend afternoons.

[Rothman]

Have me thinking about Amherst, MA now as well.  I'd guess MA 9 eastward up the hill from Hadley and through Amherst College, but North Pleasant can get congested as well.

[ChiMilNet]

The Chicago area has too many to name, so I'll just stick with a few in the NW Suburbs North Cook/South Lake County..
- Lake-Cook Road - Anyone around this area knows the nightmare that is this road. Much of it is only 4 lanes, and it desperately needs to be 6 lanes minimum (though I hear there is a much needed project planned to address one of the worst sections)! Lack of a true East-West Expressway ever built in this area is a major contributing factor (another example of the poor planning that especially plagues South Central Lake County).
- Dundee Road (IL Route 68) - Parallels Lake-Cook Road, just a few miles South... many of the same reasons and issues as with Lake-Cook contribute to this roads congestion... though a little less extreme than Lake-Cook (that's not saying much though). Since this road is IDOT maintained, add in poor stop light coordination, though.
- IL Route 53 through Long Grove - Two lane road that is severely overcapacity. This road should be AT LEAST four lanes the whole distance through Long Grove (reality check Long Grove, you stopped being a rural community about 30-40 years ago). Also, IL Route 83 where it intersects IL Route 53 is really bad, and that should be widened to six lanes with lighting.
- Palatine Road - The stretch through Arlington Heights/Prospect Heights is a joke. It is basically a half finished expressway... essentially it has frontage roads and main lanes, but the intended overpasses were never built, so each intersection has an extra set of stoplights. It's not that the traffic is that extreme, it's the stoplight configuration that leads to overly long waits, and thus creates backups. This could be fixed be just merging the sets of lanes into a more normal six lane boulevard, sort of like what was done near the Rand Road intersection. While, I am at it, I am going to give a "dishonorable" mention to the overcapacity section West of Downtown Palatine.
- Euclid Avenue through Arlington Heights - Much of it is two lanes with a center turn lane, though some parts are only two lanes. This is one that really would be difficult or impossible to widen, just because it passes through some historic neighborhoods. Sadly, the light at Arlington Heights Road is famous for causing a backup at rush hour on this roadway.

I can name several others, but these are a few that I find notoriously congested.

[silverback1065]

i-69 from 465 to campus parkway, and 465 from 69 down to 70.

[SSOWorld]

nothing in my town though Water St (WIS 80/81 through town gets close because it collects all crosstown traffic and merges it with up and downtown traffic [/NYC momemt] but it's free flowing. The worst aspect is being unable to enter the road or turn left on it.  Business 151 comes close to it too - particularly during the commutes.

Dubuque has Central Ave/White Street (US-52) through downtown with some mismatched traffic lights.  One light at 22nd and central clogs southbound traffic due to the longer green going the other way.  Nothing compared to US 20 (Dodge St) through town which has mis-timed traffic lights that clog traffic in both directions especially on Fridays and weekends.  The left turn from Dodge to Locust also backs up considerably due to the not-so-short turn lane resulting in waiting for 3 or more green lights before being able to finally complete the turn (with protected left light).  Locust is part of the feeder from 20 to the 61/151 viaduct into Wisconsin and also is the easiest access to downtown.

[mrsman]

For the places where I've lived:

Los Angeles - We got some really strong contenders among surface streets.  Sunset Blvd (through the Strip especially), Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, and La Cienega Blvd are all really bad.  But the worst of the worst has to be Wilshire, especially right around I-405.  Imagine a cloverleaf between one of the busiest freeways and busiest surface streets, with all the weaving and other issues that would be present, and add a traffic light for another major street that is parallel to the freeway (Sepulveda Blvd), right in the middle of it all.  And Wilshire is 4 lanes in each direction here.  The fact that it is also near UCLA certainly compounds the mess.

New York City- Any major street or avenue in Manhattan would qualify.  Probably the worst is Broadway approaching Columbus Circle.

Washington DC - So many squares and circles causing jam-ups, how can one determine which is worst?  CT Ave near Dupont Circle is probably the worst.  In the Montgomery County suburbs, clearly the worst street is MD-355 (Wisconsin/Rockville Pike/Frederick Rd).

[silverback1065]

isn't geary blvd and broadway in SF bad too?

[cl94]

Contrasting with the other Albany people here, Hoosick Street in Troy. The lane drop just east of the city backs up into Albany County, a distance of about 2 miles. Try getting from the Bridge to Center Brunswick between 2 and 7 PM, I dare you.

[Plutonic Panda]

Oklahoma City really doesn't have too many that are congested. EK Gaylord(downtown) get's fairly packed during evening rush hour. Lindsey St. in Norman usually has a fair amount of traffic.

In Edmond, 33rd. Broadway, 2nd St.(SH-66), Kelly, and Bryant can get congested at times.

In Oklahoma City proper I wouldn't put these in order, but these are certainly fair contenders

*May Ave. (almost the entire stretch)
*NW Expressway(entire stretch)
*Lincoln BLVD. at rush hour(entire stretch)
*NW 23rd.(I-235 to I-44)
*Penn(Linwood BLVD. to I-44, and Kilpatrick Turnpike to NW150th)
*SW 89th(I-35 to I-44)
*Meridian Ave.
*Reno Ave. during rush hour

I'm not too familiar with south central or eastside including Midwest City and Del City but I've heard it gets fairly congested in those areas sometimes. Keep in mind, pretty much every street I listed would hardly be considered heavy congestion by those from major cities.

In the city I live now(Los Angeles) I would say

*Wilshire(Beverly Hills to 405), Melrose, Santa Monica, Beverly BLVD, Sunset, Hollywood BLVD west of 101, Highland(almost always between Sunset and Franklin), Franklin St., Rodeo Dr., Vermont Ave., La Brea in certain various spots, Westwood BLVD., Ocean Ave.(around SM Pier), Washington BLVD., Pico Ave.

during rush hour the worst imo are

La Brea, 3rd St. Fairfax, Fountain, pretty much all of the canyon roads(Laurel, Beverly Glenn(I live on this right at Mulholland and it is a bitch during rush hour), Coldwater, and Benedict isn't always as bad but doesn't fully cross to the valley) Barham, Hyperion, Lincoln(pretty much from SM all the way to LAX is stop and go every day at certain times), Fairfax, and Los Feliz(at least between I-5 and Franklin). All of these streets flow relatively nice outside of rush hour with a few exceptions.

Most of Wilshire flows fine outside of rush hour other than a few spots which are nightmares. Santa Monica BLVD. is almost always packed in WeHo but will flow smoother going west after you cross Wilshire until you get to the 405. West Side almost always sucks though and usually will take at least an hour to from 101 to 405 anytime at best. I would say the worst areas are UCLA/Westwood, Hollywood BLVD. strip, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, Santa Monica.

A lot of streets like Sunset after you get past Doheny(which is a hilarious name btw), you can fly though and take 10-20mins to the 405, but during rush hour, it might take you closer to an hour. It usually starts backing up around UCLA and then you just sit there and don't move. Ever.

[Kacie Jane]

Runner ups, NE 45th St between Five Points (the intersection of NE 45th St., Union Bay Place, Mary Gates Drive, and NE 45th Place) and I-5.  Okay it's only about a mile and a half, but it often moves just one car length each light phase and there are about 20 lights.

Hmmmm... could just be that I'm not usually there during "peak of peak", but relatively speaking, I think the section between 15th and 25th (Montlake) is at least a little less crowded.

I think what happens is west if 15th gets backed up because of I-5, and east of 25th gets backed up because of Montlake. So there's two separate (and really bad) traffic jams in close proximity, but you can usually move fairly quickly between the two of them.

(You can see the same phenomenon on I-5 southbound during the shoulders of peak.  You get a traffic jam in the U-District as people try to cross from 45th to 520, then it clears up for a mile until you hit - hopefully not literally - the people trying to cross from 520 to Mercer.)

[djsekani]

Metro Los Angeles. Ummm.... tough call, but I think the winner is definitely World Way, the road that goes through the LAX terminal horseshoe.

After an experience near the Hollywood Bowl a few nights ago, we have a new champion. Highland Avenue between the 101 freeway and Sunset Blvd is officially the biggest traffic cluster of all time not caused by a natural disaster whenever an event is wrapping up at the Bowl.

[CapeCodder]

Routes 132 and 28. Anything south of the Mid Cape is congested especially in summer. Our road-net is stymied by topography so there isn't much by the way of choice. You could go inland via Race Lane and other two lane roads. Hyannis is just so built up that the two lane roads can't handle it.

[Rothman]

Contrasting with the other Albany people here, Hoosick Street in Troy. The lane drop just east of the city backs up into Albany County, a distance of about 2 miles. Try getting from the Bridge to Center Brunswick between 2 and 7 PM, I dare you.

Doesn't help matters that it's one of the only ways east to MA and VT as well.

[Desert Man]

Palm Canyon Dr from Vista Chino down to Ramon in downtown Palm Springs, parts of CA SR 111 in Palm Desert from Fred Waring Dr to Deep Canyon Dr, intersections like Washington St/Hovley Lane and Date Palm Dr/Ramon Road, as well Washington St/CA SR 111 in La Quinta, and Monroe St/CA SR 111 in Indio not far from a near-vacant shopping mall, but traffic hasn't decreased.

[compdude787]

Seattle.  So many congested roads.  But to pick:

Mercer St., as has been said already.

Runner ups, NE 45th St between Five Points (the intersection of NE 45th St., Union Bay Place, Mary Gates Drive, and NE 45th Place) and I-5.  Okay it's only about a mile and a half, but it often moves just one car length each light phase and there are about 20 lights.

Montlake Blvd, often takes 30 minutes to go a mile from NE 45th St to the Montlake Bridge.

Oh yeah, totally agree. Mercer Street has been bad for the past 40 years (that was part of the reason why they wanted to build the Bay Freeway), and I can totally agree that Montlake Blvd and 45th Street are both terrible. (I think there was a reason that the 50th Street Expressway appeared in many freeway plans back in the day) At least WSDOT is planning on twinning the Montlake Bridge as part of the 520 project to make it six lanes, so hopefully that should improve things through there.

[adventurernumber1]

Here in Dalton, Georgia, generally the busiest road is Georgia Highway 52 (West Walnut Avenue) all the way down I-75's massive Exit 333. This is constantly congested because it is the biggest exit in the area, and the restaurants and retail go on forever. The most congested intersection, however, is no doubt the North Dalton Bypass (US 41/US 76/GA 3) / Georgia Highway 71 (Cleveland Highway) intersection. This has been called the busiest intersection in north Georgia. All three of these roads are often very congested. All of the roads I have mentioned often have traffic counts of around 30,000 VPD. For comparison, I-75 in Dalton has traffic counts of around 70,000 VPD. Dishonorable mentions for congested roads in Dalton include GA SR 52 on the east side of town (East Walnut Avenue) near Walnut Square Mall, and US 41/US 76/GA SR 3 at I-75's Exit 336 (especially right now as there is currently construction there).

[Buck87]

In Bellevue, Ohio it's Main Street (US 20.) Not really all that bad, but there's a lot of through truck traffic on it, making it the most congested in town.

[bing101]

19th Avenue/Route 1 in San Francisco, as far as a surface street in that city is concerned,  is consistently busy most days.  Freeway-level traffic due to the fact it is the only way to get to the Golden Gate Bridge without passing through the Marina district or Seacliff...and this was the originally planned 280 corridor north of Daly City before the 1950s/1960s freeway revolts led to the Interstate's reroute onto the Southern Freeway.

Gough Street south of Geary is pretty bad at rush hour, as one of several pathways that leads towards the Central Freeway portion of 101.  If anything, it's a bit busier then than 101 itself (Van Ness Avenue) southbound!

Geary Boulevard west of Masonic Avenue, due to the density of local storefronts, stoplights, and bus traffic, is pretty heavily traveled all the way up to about 36th Avenue in the Outer Richmond.

Montgomery Street south of California Street can be a parking lot at rush hour, due to the stoplight timing at Post/Market and the fact it is the primary southbound corridor out of the Financial District (and very indirectly towards Interstate 80).

King Street near I-280 can be jammed too because of AT&T park and the soon to be Chase Center.