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

[bzakharin]

NJ 70, mostly because that's where the interchange for I-295 in town is.

[bassoon1986]

Alexandria, LA - I think our culprit is Jackson St (LA 1208-3), from MacArthur Dr (US 71/167) southwest to LA 488. It is 4 lanes but with no center turning lane so traffic is constantly weaving around drivers turning left. I think most of the traffic lights have left turn signals, but most of the intersecting streets do not in order to turn left onto Jackson.

[jmd41280]

That answer kinda surprises me. I thought you'd say Forbes Avenue or Boulevard of the Allies. That place can be a standstill sometimes.

I think both of them can be contenders too.  Let's throw Library Rd (PA 88) between Bethel Park and PA 51 into the mix too...

[freebrickproductions]

In Huntsville, AL, it seems to be the following:
University Drive
Memorial Parkway
Airport Road between Memorial Parkway and Whitesburg Drive
Whitesburg Drive
Zierdt Road

[sparker]

I'm not in the East Bay enough to know if Mission Boulevard/Route 238 ends up having to take some of the overflow from the Nimitz Freeway.  (Not coincidentally, the Mission corridor was planned decades to be a freeway at one point that would have allowed 680/238/580 to be a viable alternate to 880)

Mission Boulevard/238 has been a major PITA since the reconfiguration in downtown Hayward a few years back; it sees more use as part of a rush-hour "shortcut", with Jackson St. (the east end of CA 92) for traffic coming off the San Mateo Bridge to access EB I-580 (when I-238 is a mess, as is more often than not the case!).  238/Mission just isn't a viable alternative to I-880 any more.  The facility parallel to I-880 that bears the brunt of most of the traffic seeking a surface-route alternative is Hesperian Blvd., which was the old CA 17 pre-freeway routing from San Lorenzo south to Union City.  It's mostly 6 lanes (shrinking to 4 periodically, primarily south of CA 92), but once in Union City, it can disperse traffic onto Alvarado-Niles road (to get to CA 238 and EB CA 84 through Niles Canyon), Fremont Blvd. (the continuation of the old CA 17 alignment), or continuing south to Newark, where CA 84 west across the Dumbarton bridge can be accessed.  I've used this road often -- if you know the territory, you can use surface roads west of I-880 all the way into San Jose with little or no major congestion. 

[Rothman]

Central Avenue (NY 5) and Wolf Road, easily.

Hm.  Wolf Road's more congested than Washington Ave Ext or New Karner Road between Washington Ave and Central (probably and definitely during the holidays? )?

[PHLBOS]

In the North Shore (MA); Route 114 east of 128 (through Peabody & Salem) almost always congested except  late at night.

[countysigns]

In Toledo, I would say Talmadge Road, Secor Road and Monroe Street (OH-51) would be the busiest.  Talmadge and Monroe jam up because of the presence of Franklin Park Mall and all the commercial build-up around that area.  Secor Road because of Westgate and all the commercial build-up around that area as well.  Lewis Avenue (old US-23) ranks up there too, not because of commercial shops but because it is a major arterial with only two lanes.

[jwolfer]

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

[roadman]

In Wakefield, MA.  Main Street northbound where it intersects with North Ave is fairly brutal in the AM rush.  This is due to both short light timing and the Dunkin Donuts drive thru just south of the intersection, as entering/exiting traffic crosses the northbound lane (side note - drive thrus on arterial streets that are not immediately adjacent to an Interstate/freeway interchange should be outlawed).  A close second in the PM rush is Main Street northbound where it intersects with Water Street.  Again, short signal timing is the culprit here.

[tradephoric]

In Wakefield, MA.  Main Street northbound where it intersects with North Ave is fairly brutal in the AM rush.  This is due to both short light timing and the Dunkin Donuts drive thru just south of the intersection, as entering/exiting traffic crosses the northbound lane (side note - drive thrus on arterial streets that are not immediately adjacent to an Interstate/freeway interchange should be outlawed).  A close second in the PM rush is Main Street northbound where it intersects with Water Street.  Again, short signal timing is the culprit here.

What do you mean exactly when you say it's due to "short light timing?" 

[hm insulators]

Grand Avenue (US 60) from Phoenix diagonally through Glendale, Peoria, Sun City and so forth.

[roadman65]

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.

[Darkchylde]

Bannister Road (Route W), between the Kansas state line and US 71, as far as southern KC goes. During the evening rush hour, it'll take you about 20-30 minutes to go about 4-5 miles.

[roadman]

In Wakefield, MA.  Main Street northbound where it intersects with North Ave is fairly brutal in the AM rush.  This is due to both short light timing and the Dunkin Donuts drive thru just south of the intersection, as entering/exiting traffic crosses the northbound lane (side note - drive thrus on arterial streets that are not immediately adjacent to an Interstate/freeway interchange should be outlawed).  A close second in the PM rush is Main Street northbound where it intersects with Water Street.  Again, short signal timing is the culprit here.

What do you mean exactly when you say it's due to "short light timing?" 

Short green cycles for Main Street.

[capt.ron]

Searcy AR
worst: Race St.
2nd worst: Beebe Capps Expressway (Benton Street west to Westgate).

[Charles2]

Birmingham: US 280, hands down.  Distant runner-up: Lakeshore Parkway/Drive.

[doorknob60]

In Meridian (and Boise for that matter, though the stretch through Boise isn't as bad), I'd give the title to Eagle Rd. (ID-55). A formerly somewhat rural road, it is now engulfed by suburbia, lots of shopping centers, etc. There's no north-south freeway in the area, so this handles a lot of thru traffic in addition to the local traffic. That said, outside of the peak hours, it has the ability to move along decently well due to its 50-55 MPH speed limit (though traffic flow, particularly south of Fairview Ave, is generally more like 40-45 even off-peak) and decent signal coordination. But hit it at the wrong time, and it's not a fun experience.

[fillup420]

In Boone NC, US 421, US 321, and NC 194 all run concurrent through downtown. That road is always stop and go traffic. Also in Boone, NC 105 runs around downtown, but it also has the truck routes of US 221, 321, and 421 on it. There are tons of through-trucks on 105 all the time.

[The Ghostbuster]

Definitely the Beltline. Fortunately, I don't ride as a passenger on the Beltline very often. There is a DOT study on improving the Beltline, but its still early in the study. Any improvements are likely many years away from being constructed.

[jwolfer]

Definitely the Beltline. Fortunately, I don't ride as a passenger on the Beltline very often. There is a DOT study on improving the Beltline, but its still early in the study. Any improvements are likely many years away from being constructed.

What city?

[tdindy88]

I would guess Madison, Wisconsin.

As for this list, Indianapolis hasn't been mentioned, but if I were to venture a guess I would say 86th/82nd Street on the north side of Indianapolis. Especially from Meridian Street east past Keystone at the Crossing and Castleton over to I-69.

[Bruce]

Most of the streets that either closely parallel or funnel traffic to/from Interstate 5 are lost hopes in terms of congestion relief. In descending order of my personal distate:

Mercer Street. The infamous one-stop exit for the Seattle Center and SLU, as well as those who haven't got the memo that SLU is now a bad bypass option.

Stewart Street. My morning bus makes the slow crawl from the express lanes to the street in about 30 minutes...for a grand total of a half-mile. The recent electrical work for the new substation shutting down one or two lanes during rush hour certainly doesn't help.

Howell Street. Headed back home in the afternoon, this place is a similar nightmare. The peak-only bus lane is in the center of the roadway, so buses have to weave in and out, and also be stuck behind cars who are breaking traffic laws and are rarely pulled over by traffic cops that are too busy directing garage traffic.

5th Avenue. All the cars from the north side of downtown headed to points south and east (on I-90; too cheap to take 520, I guess) cram onto the street and delay inbound buses.

Roosevelt Way. The main north-south drag through central North Seattle (U District, Roosevelt, Maple Leaf) and a popular bypass of I-5 traffic that gets clogged at the slightest hint of a jam. Not fun when the only buses from Northgate to the U District have to use that street.

[compdude787]

Also in the Seattle area, Bothell Way is pretty congested. I like to call it Bot-HELL Way, because driving it is so frustrating. The reverse commute is worse than the actual commute, and frankly, the Bothell Freeway as proposed in the 60s really would have been nice to have.

[LM117]

I stayed in Wilson, NC 3 days ago while visiting my old stomping grounds and US-264 Alternate/Raleigh Road Parkway between I-95 and Forest Hills Road gets my vote there, though Wilson in general has less congestion than Goldsboro and Danville.