Here's a thread where you can share areas of common/recurring congestion that are either
a] at weird times of day or night
b] at weird locations, such as in residential neighborhoods
c] in totally rural areas (including interstates, but excluding small towns/villages)
I posted this in another thread...
QuoteAnd there are definitely more people overall on the roads in the afternoon. Roads that are free flowing outbound in the morning can often be slow in both directions in the evening. NY 590 and NY 104 are good examples of this. North and East are always free flowing during the morning rush. Conventional wisdom would then suggest that South and West should be free flowing in the evening. Not so much the case (although neither are "congested" by East Coast standards, they are distinctly busier than their morning counterparts, and a single left lane camper can create miles-long masses moving 50 mph or so).
... which, while not directly related to the above criteria, might help broaden the scope for this thread, and get your trains of thought headed in the right direction.
MA 159 in Agawam backs up every night during the summer around 9PM to let Six Flags guests out.
Quote from: RobbieL2415 on January 24, 2018, 07:21:29 PM
MA 159 in Agawam backs up every night during the summer around 9PM to let Six Flags guests out.
Definitely a good start. I think we can find some delays which are not quite so easy to pinpoint the cause of.
I've traveled I-87 in Rockland County, NYC-bound, several times on Sunday evenings and it always backs up to or near to the I-287 split :eyebrow:
99W at Tualatin Sherwood Road. All day because of poor signal timing.
Sherwood high school signal. Main tgoroughway has green for 2 seconds (literally) then the traffic from the high school gets 18 seconds (Yes, I counted this). Traffic can back up half a mile both directions (20 minute delay). Funny thing is, 10:28 am is our lunch and its the worst time.
The neighborhood where I reside has its own regularized congestion: I live approximately 1 block away from an all-grade Christian school, 2 blocks away from a public middle school, and 4 blocks away from a public "magnet" high school. The term "magnet" certainly has a double meaning here -- it attracts monstrously large hordes of cars driven by what are often termed "helicopter" parents -- from about 7:45 to 8:30 each weekday morning and about 2:15 to 3:45 each weekday afternoon (like most schools, the earlier grades get out earlier). There isn't a street in the neighborhood that isn't packed during those hours; it's next to impossible to even get out of one's own driveway and get to a local arterial. It's so bad my GF has made every effort to arrange her shifts at the hospital where she works so that leaving or getting home doesn't fall within those hours. To top it off, many of these parents/drivers are incredibly rude and/or completely unaware of their surroundings; I've been flipped off more than once just trying to get out of the driveway and the block and a half down to the nearest main drag. Caring about your kids' welfare and safety is one thing; being single-minded and obsessive to the detriment of all around you is very much another.
Quote from: sparker on January 25, 2018, 03:23:53 AM
(like most schools, the earlier grades get out earlier).
Sorry to go off topic, but I found this part surprising. I've never heard of different grades having different start and end times. What if you're a parent with children in different grades? Then you have to either wait around, or drive back to the school later? Or if a younger sibling wants to walk home with the older one, then they have to wait around?
Quote from: 7/8 on January 25, 2018, 08:49:31 AM
Sorry to go off topic, but I found this part surprising. I've never heard of different grades having different start and end times. What if you're a parent with children in different grades? Then you have to either wait around, or drive back to the school later? Or if a younger sibling wants to walk home with the older one, then they have to wait around?
This is common in places where the same buses pick up kids from multiple schools.
Prior to NJ Turnpike's truck lanes being extended south to Exit 6, there was a regular area of congestion every Sunday afternoon and evening between exits 6 and 9 (exactly where the widening was done). I suppose it has to do with the influx from the PA turnpike, but I'd say the timing was definitely unusual.
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 25, 2018, 02:36:55 AM
Funny thing is, 10:28 am is our lunch...
That's funny/strange on it's own. I don't think I've ever heard of a lunch scheduled that early.
Speaking of schools that wreak havoc with traffic flow, this complex (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2540381,-77.666372,16.5z) creates some substantial problems, with morning traffic to turn left on Island Cottage Road backing up down the ramp and right onto the 390 mainline at times.
Quote from: 7/8 on January 25, 2018, 08:49:31 AM
Quote from: sparker on January 25, 2018, 03:23:53 AM
(like most schools, the earlier grades get out earlier).
Sorry to go off topic, but I found this part surprising. I've never heard of different grades having different start and end times. What if you're a parent with children in different grades? Then you have to either wait around, or drive back to the school later? Or if a younger sibling wants to walk home with the older one, then they have to wait around?
See, I've never heard of that either, at least not
within a school. Of course, if there's two nearby schools, such as the one I linked above, then start and end times will almost always be different, but never heard of varying times within the same building.
Quote from: bzakharin on January 25, 2018, 10:02:02 AM
Prior to NJ Turnpike's truck lanes being extended south to Exit 6, there was a regular area of congestion every Sunday afternoon and evening between exits 6 and 9 (exactly where the widening was done). I suppose it has to do with the influx from the PA turnpike, but I'd say the timing was definitely unusual.
I mentioned something similar happening every Sunday evening on the approach to the (former) Tappan Zee Bridge. I think weekends, and especially holiday weekends, tend to mess with traffic flow a bit and create delays in odd places. This is probably especially the case for big population centers like metro NYC.
Two rush hours coming north on I-395. First one is the "in by 6 AM" crowd going to the Pentagon and other military offices in and around DC. The second is a more conventional "banker' hours" rush hour getting in closer to 9 AM.
Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 25, 2018, 10:35:10 AM
Two rush hours coming north on I-395. First one is the "in by 6 AM" crowd going to the Pentagon and other military offices in and around DC. The second is a more conventional "banker' hours" rush hour getting in closer to 9 AM.
Yeah, I've heard that about the DC area too. Traffic at 5 am? We'd think it was the apocalypse around here :-D
Traffic never gets bad until after 7. Heck, I can have the whole Dunkin Donuts drive-thru to myself before 7!
Quote from: webny99 on January 25, 2018, 10:18:29 AM
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 25, 2018, 02:36:55 AM
Funny thing is, 10:28 am is our lunch...
That's funny/strange on it's own. I don't think I've ever heard of a lunch scheduled that early.
And that's not the worst time it can be. Early release lunchtime: 9:40 am. Running practice is after school at all times so don't ask about when school gets out.
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 25, 2018, 11:38:14 AM
Quote from: webny99 on January 25, 2018, 10:18:29 AM
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 25, 2018, 02:36:55 AM
Funny thing is, 10:28 am is our lunch...
That’s funny/strange on it’s own. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a lunch scheduled that early.
And that's not the worst time it can be. Early release lunchtime: 9:40 am. Running practice is after school at all times so don't ask about when school gets out.
With high school schedules, 10am lunches are unfortunately the norm. Luckily none of mine were ever that early.
Quote from: webny99 on January 25, 2018, 10:18:29 AM
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 25, 2018, 02:36:55 AM
Funny thing is, 10:28 am is our lunch...
That's funny/strange on it's own. I don't think I've ever heard of a lunch scheduled that early.
The Hamilton, NJ train station ticket office has lunch from 10:25-10:45 (http://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainStationLookupFrom&selStation=32905). Of course, their weekday work day is between 6 AM and 1:30 PM because... people buy tickets in the morning when they might miss their train and not at night when they have more time? At least with Hamilton it's just the ticket office (most people use machines which are 25/7 anyway). When I lived in Morristown the entire station building there had hours like those, so if you were reverse commuting (like I was) and it was cold or raining, you had no choice but wait outside for the train.
I-4 could have times where you travel the road one day and be free and clear and another day the same time and have congestion that it there, but once it clears up it has no accident or and lane closing to warrant the slowdown.
I also noticed that where I-4 west exits for the Turnpike in Orlando, a slowdown occurs where its not volume related where two lanes converge into one as its just for a mysterious reason that going into the trumpet ramp causes a stop completely. If you look into the ramp itself its at a crawl and then after the ramp straightens it moves at regular speed. The Exit 77 ramp is banked so that it can keep cars moving at even a 35 mph speed so there is no reason for a complete stop and for a back up in the right lane of I-4 each day in the PM.
Orange Blossom Trail in Hunters Creek, FL where there is a long line of cars heading SB in the right lane either making it impossible to turn into Deerfield Blvd as the queue extends from SR 417 northward to Peppermill Blvd well over a mile. I always have to cut in as I feel justified that the lane is congested due to ignorance and not because all are turning at the same spot along the route as I am not going to end of the line and get nailed at three traffic lights because drivers cannot distribute themselves on a common roadway.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 25, 2018, 01:33:23 PM
I-4 could have times where you travel the road one day and be free and clear and another day the same time and have congestion that it there, but once it clears up it has no accident or and lane closing to warrant the slowdown.
As I often mention to my carpool...
Just because there's nothing there now doesn't mean there wasn't nothing there that caused the issue. If there was a car accident that caused a 5 mile delay, the moment the car is towed away and the police leave the scene doesn't mean all 5 miles of traffic instantly speeds up to 70 mph. It takes a while to clear out the jam.
This is also the case when everyone slows down because there's a cop on the road. Maybe that's the case now, but 2 minutes earlier they could've cleared away an overturned vehicle blocking a lane that was the real culprit of the jam.
Or, another case: You approach a red traffic light. Cars are stopped. The light turns green. The cars all suddenly didn't speed up...the first car starts to go, then the second, and so forth.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 25, 2018, 01:33:23 PM
I-4 could have times where you travel the road one day and be free and clear and another day the same time and have congestion that it there, but once it clears up it has no accident or and lane closing to warrant the slowdown.
I also noticed that where I-4 west exits for the Turnpike in Orlando, a slowdown occurs where its not volume related where two lanes converge into one as its just for a mysterious reason that going into the trumpet ramp causes a stop completely. If you look into the ramp itself its at a crawl and then after the ramp straightens it moves at regular speed. The Exit 77 ramp is banked so that it can keep cars moving at even a 35 mph speed so there is no reason for a complete stop and for a back up in the right lane of I-4 each day in the PM.
Orange Blossom Trail in Hunters Creek, FL where there is a long line of cars heading SB in the right lane either making it impossible to turn into Deerfield Blvd as the queue extends from SR 417 northward to Peppermill Blvd well over a mile. I always have to cut in as I feel justified that the lane is congested due to ignorance and not because all are turning at the same spot along the route as I am not going to end of the line and get nailed at three traffic lights because drivers cannot distribute themselves on a common roadway.
I hate the double trumpet exit at i4 and turnpike.it gets horribly backed up sometimes. Sadly it looks like the i4 ultimate is not changing this into a high speed interchange like at the turnpike and 429. Just a double trumpet with bigger turn radius...
But there is really not much room around the exit
Z981
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 25, 2018, 01:52:16 PM
Or, another case: You approach a red traffic light. Cars are stopped. The light turns green. The cars all suddenly didn't speed up...the first car starts to go, then the second, and so forth.
Slightly off-topic: I've often pondered over what's the better solution at traffic lights:
a] pulling right up to the car in front, creating shorter, but slower moving lines (must accelerate one at a time).
b] leaving a car length space, creating longer, but faster moving lines (everybody accelerates at once).
Obviously, this is somewhat irrelevant, due to the challenges presented by requiring all drivers to do one or the other.
Quote from: webny99 on January 25, 2018, 10:18:29 AM
Quote from: Hurricane Rex on January 25, 2018, 02:36:55 AM
Funny thing is, 10:28 am is our lunch...
That's funny/strange on it's own. I don't think I've ever heard of a lunch scheduled that early.
Speaking of schools that wreak havoc with traffic flow, this complex (https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2540381,-77.666372,16.5z) creates some substantial problems, with morning traffic to turn left on Island Cottage Road backing up down the ramp and right onto the 390 mainline at times.
Quote from: 7/8 on January 25, 2018, 08:49:31 AM
Quote from: sparker on January 25, 2018, 03:23:53 AM
(like most schools, the earlier grades get out earlier).
Sorry to go off topic, but I found this part surprising. I've never heard of different grades having different start and end times. What if you're a parent with children in different grades? Then you have to either wait around, or drive back to the school later? Or if a younger sibling wants to walk home with the older one, then they have to wait around?
See, I've never heard of that either, at least not within a school. Of course, if there's two nearby schools, such as the one I linked above, then start and end times will almost always be different, but never heard of varying times within the same building.
My reference to schools having different release times for ascending grades stems from my own experience, bolstered by practices related to me by local friends with children who are or have been in the local (San Jose) school system. When I was in grade school (late '50s -- very early '60's) kindergarten released the kids at noon (starting time for all grades was nominally about 8:30 am); 1st/2nd grades got out at 1 pm; 3rd and 4th left at 2 pm, and 5th and 6th stayed until 3 pm. Middle (then called junior high) school kept consistent 8:30-3 hours, as did the high school. Of course, back then the dominant idiom was one parent at home able to assume care of the child after school hours (although I was the archetypal "latchkey kid", as both my parents worked full-time). According to my local sources (informants?) the local school district retains responsibility for minors until the latest release time (about 3:15 pm); so unless authorized to do so by the parent, the child remains at the school until mid-afternoon (within study hall, sports, or other activities on school grounds if not actually in class). Some schools (and to my understanding most "magnet" schools do so) maintain after-class activities until 5-5:30 pm to accommodate, presumably, children with two full-time working parents. From the amount of teens on the street after 3 pm fanning out from the school complex, it appears that enough parental releases have been signed for this to occur. Of the local complexes, only the Christian school (located next door to the public middle school) services grade-school students; don't see a lot of those outside school grounds (uniforms make them spottable); presumably their after-school release policies differ from the public entities. In any case, there's enough parents picking up their kids in mid-afternoon to cause a local congestion issue.
In Cherry Hill NJ Kresson Road is completely backed-up at dismissal time for Cherry Hill East HS. Although there is an elaborate system of traffic signals there, they insist on having uniformed personnel (I don't believe that they are police officers) come out and "direct" traffic. So every school day afternoon it is the place to avoid beginning at 2:30.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 25, 2018, 01:52:16 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on January 25, 2018, 01:33:23 PM
I-4 could have times where you travel the road one day and be free and clear and another day the same time and have congestion that it there, but once it clears up it has no accident or and lane closing to warrant the slowdown.
As I often mention to my carpool...
Just because there's nothing there now doesn't mean there wasn't nothing there that caused the issue. If there was a car accident that caused a 5 mile delay, the moment the car is towed away and the police leave the scene doesn't mean all 5 miles of traffic instantly speeds up to 70 mph. It takes a while to clear out the jam.
This is also the case when everyone slows down because there's a cop on the road. Maybe that's the case now, but 2 minutes earlier they could've cleared away an overturned vehicle blocking a lane that was the real culprit of the jam.
Or, another case: You approach a red traffic light. Cars are stopped. The light turns green. The cars all suddenly didn't speed up...the first car starts to go, then the second, and so forth.
Tell the traffic light one to my sister who starts yelling at all the cars in front of her when the light turns green. Yes it takes a few seconds per car to move. Sometimes longer when one of the drivers is texting.
Yes, I often considered the residuals of a previous accident. But still that is strange despite physics does say like you pointed out it takes a long while for traffic to move again after the accident is cleared. However, I-4 is a strange road anyhow. Just ask anyone who lives in O Town.
The one in Hunters Creek near my house is bad traffic distribution for sure. It happens also on US 192 although using the left lane is all the traffic and the right lane is free. That, of course, depends on the tourists as most have the same MO at the time. They often stay in the left lane when they know their hotel will soon be on the left to play safe.
Also at the Beachline West Toll Plaza we have a queue always in the far right toll lane with the left two lanes empty at most times. Even when I work those lanes with no cars in it someone does come into my lane and point out how dumb other drivers are waiting in line while two other lanes are empty. We usually have a laugh about it too, but among us workers we often talk about how even when five cars are there and a new car comes into the plaza he will wait behind the five cars rather than pull into the empty lane and give his money and leave.
I saw someone post a nationwide Google Maps traffic image right after the August 2017 eclipse, where there was serious congestion on pretty much every interstate where it crossed the path of the eclipse.
There is a 14-km backup every working day on Highway 400 NB (from 401 to Major Mackenzie) during the afternoon rush hour. It's strange because it's pretty wide... 6 lanes in each direction near the 401 and a collector-express system north of the 407. But the highway does shrink after Langstaff to 4 lanes in each direction...
Quote from: andrepoiy on January 26, 2018, 11:09:54 PM
But the highway does shrink after Langstaff to 4 lanes in each direction...
Well, there's a possible explanation :pan: Not enough to justify a
14 km backup, though.
Quote from: Finrod on January 26, 2018, 03:42:26 PM
I saw someone post a nationwide Google Maps traffic image right after the August 2017 eclipse, where there was serious congestion on pretty much every interstate where it crossed the path of the eclipse.
On that day, I was checking Google Maps and portions of I-65, I-75, I-81, I-85, and I-95 in otherwise rural areas were dark red (they all go to/from big cities)
One word to sum up this thread: tunnels. to name a few that reliably get jammed for no reason other than the tunnel itself: Holland tunnel, squirrel hill tunnel, ft pit tunnel, and last, and definitely the worst offender: the HRBT.
Are there any locations you know of that back up in one direction in the morning rush, but NOT the other direction in the evening rush, or vice-versa?
NY 590 has this oddity. Southbound backs up every morning, but northbound is free-flowing the afternoon. I wonder if this is a fluke, or something common elsewhere.
Quote from: webny99 on April 02, 2018, 10:08:40 AM
Are there any locations you know of that back up in one direction in the morning rush, but NOT the other direction in the evening rush, or vice-versa?
NY 590 has this oddity. Southbound backs up every morning, but northbound is free-flowing the afternoon. I wonder if this is a fluke, or something common elsewhere.
NJ 55 at its northern terminus narrows to a single lane before merging with NJ 42. That part is always congested in the morning (and evening during beach season). Obviously southbound traffic does not have this bottleneck.
Excessive development has made N. Bailey Ave and it's surroundings in Amherst, NY extremely crowded during the day. It's nearly impossible to make a left turn from some areas.
Quote from: MCRoads on January 27, 2018, 01:11:05 AM
One word to sum up this thread: tunnels. to name a few that reliably get jammed for no reason other than the tunnel itself: Holland tunnel, squirrel hill tunnel, ft pit tunnel, and last, and definitely the worst offender: the HRBT.
The tunnel part of the HRBT is quite long, and the descent and ascent to the bottom of the tunnels (over 100 feet below sea level) appear to be rather steep.
There's also the matter of the curves at the entrances to and exits from the tunnels, which may slow some drivers.
Quote from: webny99 on January 25, 2018, 03:43:45 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 25, 2018, 01:52:16 PM
Or, another case: You approach a red traffic light. Cars are stopped. The light turns green. The cars all suddenly didn't speed up...the first car starts to go, then the second, and so forth.
Slightly off-topic: I've often pondered over what's the better solution at traffic lights:
a] pulling right up to the car in front, creating shorter, but slower moving lines (must accelerate one at a time).
b] leaving a car length space, creating longer, but faster moving lines (everybody accelerates at once).
Obviously, this is somewhat irrelevant, due to the challenges presented by requiring all drivers to do one or the other.
I get fairly close to the vehicle ahead, and accelerate as soon as or slightly before the vehicle ahead, but I use a shallower acceleration curve so that the distance increases with speed. I do this for the fuel efficiency from the reduced acceleration, but I also wonder about time efficiency. My grandmother always complained about drivers who waited until after the car ahead was underway and then started going. She thought they were not paying attention. She was always impatient. To me, accelerating at the same time but more slowly feels right in terms of overall efficiency. If everyone did that, I don't know how to tell if it would make things better or worse, but it gets me out of the way of the vehicle behind me more quickly, so that's as much as I can contribute. Too many people think that the accelerator has only two positions, "up" and "down," and don't realize that there's a whole range in between that can also be used. I don't think my approach would ever be accepted, even if it is a good one.
US 1 & MA 97 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Topsfield+Fairgrounds/@42.6350553,-70.9451498,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e31084fa4fa6d7:0xaa21838383a16f63!8m2!3d42.628138!4d-70.942976) when the Topsfield Fair is going on.
US 20 in Charlton (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tree+House+Brewing+Company/@42.1379122,-72.0183367,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e6be8701e9a0c5:0x7ffa9a29a8606352!8m2!3d42.1365211!4d-72.0125079) when the Tree House Brewing Company is open.
When exiting the parking lot; don't even think about making a left turn onto US 20 westbound. One has to drive eastbound for a bit prior to using a connecting street to turn around.
Any time around a new Chick-fil-A. When Grand Rapids' first Chick-fil-A opened at M-6 and Kalamazoo Avenue, traffic was backed up onto eastbound M-6 (and there was an ice storm that day)
Quote from: webny99 on January 24, 2018, 12:21:35 PM
Here's a thread where you can share areas of common/recurring congestion that are either
c] in totally rural areas (including interstates, but excluding small towns/villages)
Two that fit c.
- Northbound on I-77 approaching Wytheville VA and its "wrong way multiplex". The right lane is for I-81 N and the left lane is for 81N/77S, which gets probably 80% of the traffic. Generally long backups in the left lane. Often it is shorter to just take the right lane, get on 81N and turn around at the next exit.
- Eastbound on so-called I-74 (actually US 74 Bypass) outside Rockingham NC. Exit 319 is for NC 38, which is the best way to Myrtle Beach and is just a regular rural exit onto a side road. Often several miles of cars backed up wanting to use that exit in the summer time, with far less traffic (mostly trucks) heading onward on US 74 towards Wilmington.
In Danville, Illinois, US-136/IL-1 can get very congested at the Winter Avenue intersection (US-136/IL-1 is locally known as Vermilion Street in that part of Danville), and not because of a pair of schools (a private, Catholic high school and a public elementary school) at the intersection, but because of a lot of traffic approaching the intersection from the west and making a left turn onto US-136/IL-1). Even though IL-1 follows Fairchild Street for a few blocks between Gilbert Street and Vermilion Street to discourage through traffic from driving through a residential area long Gilbert Street north of Fairchild Street, a lot of Danville motorists will take Gilbert Street to Winter Avenue to Vermilion Street instead of taking Fairchild Street between Gilbert and Vermilion.
Also, areas around schools can have a ton of traffic congestion around mid-morning and again at mid-afternoon; this explains a lot of rural/small town congestion situations.