Worst Traffic By Month

[webny99]

In my area, from Best to Worst*

12. February
11. January
10. December
9. March
8. April
7. November
6. October
5. July
4. September
3. August
2. May
1. June

*I only considered areas urban/suburban in nature, as I think it's a foregone conclusion that rural areas are "worst" in summer. Further, while the summer months may rank higher in overall volume, peaks are not as dramatic, people vacation in rural areas, and school is not in session. June is just a bad combination of school traffic, snowbirds, and nice weather.

[LM117]

Danville is a clusterfuck all year, but December is a special kind of hell. I just got back from town a few minutes ago and the whole damn city is pretty much one big parking lot. Cops were having to control traffic at the entrances/exits to the Coleman Marketplace shopping center on Holt Garrison Parkway and Piney Forest Road is Danville's version of I-66 in Northern Virginia (minus the tolls).

[webny99]

Danville is a clusterfuck all year, but December is a special kind of hell. I just got back from town a few minutes ago and the whole damn city is pretty much one big parking lot. Cops were having to control traffic at the entrances/exits to the Coleman Marketplace shopping center on Holt Garrison Parkway and Piney Forest Road is Danville's version of I-66 in Northern Virginia (minus the tolls).

Oooooh. If I give more weight to shopping center/mall traffic, December jumps way up. Mine was based primarily on freeways/residential areas. Traffic headed to the Towne Center at Webster was backed up almost a solid mile, onto the 104 mainline, this afternoon.

[sparker]

Around the South Bay it would definitely have to be December.  There's a lot of folks around here who don't particularly like driving -- and as a result haven't gotten particularly adept at it; but out of (presumably) social necessity have found themselves out in the streets this time of year, visiting acquaintances and family as well as shopping.  Most of the dangerous -- or just plain annoying -- driving maneuvers outlined in the previous posts are on prominent display -- including a UPS driver who missed their exit on SB CA 87 a couple of days ago (right in front of me) and promptly cut over to the right and crossed the gore behind the exit sign to get to the ramp.  I'm guessing he or she was a seasonal "fill-in" rather than a regular brown-suiter.  But perfunctory competence gets shot to hell this time of year -- just when volume is at its peak at or near area shopping centers (the ramp in question above led directly to Oakridge Mall in Almaden Valley).  So yes, there's more overall volume this time of year -- but that pales in comparison to the apparent drop in average skill of the drivers that are out there!     

[Hurricane Rex]

December in Portland due to Holiday travel. If it snows in another month, that month replaces December for the worst.

[Brian556]

Danville is a clusterfuck all year, but December is a special kind of hell. I just got back from town a few minutes ago and the whole damn city is pretty much one big parking lot. Cops were having to control traffic at the entrances/exits to the Coleman Marketplace shopping center on Holt Garrison Parkway and Piney Forest Road is Danville's version of I-66 in Northern Virginia (minus the tolls).

Your cops actually direct traffic at shopping centers? Holy shit. Ours are useless, and wont do that. There can be a lien of 25 cars at one shopping center exit, and the city doesn't give a fuck. They just let people sit. This is Flower Mound, the city whose government I hate

[US 89]

One thing I can say is that around here in December drivers get way more aggressive than other times of year. Also, people don't know how to drive in snow (and for the most part, that's the transplants from California who move to Utah and then get all pissed that the weather is different here).

[LM117]

Danville is a clusterfuck all year, but December is a special kind of hell. I just got back from town a few minutes ago and the whole damn city is pretty much one big parking lot. Cops were having to control traffic at the entrances/exits to the Coleman Marketplace shopping center on Holt Garrison Parkway and Piney Forest Road is Danville's version of I-66 in Northern Virginia (minus the tolls).

Your cops actually direct traffic at shopping centers? Holy shit. Ours are useless, and wont do that.

Yep. Just that one.

http://www.godanriver.com/news/danville/shoppers-rush-danville-stores-in-final-push-before-christmas/article_b58ea0b4-e826-11e7-b94f-376501db27a2.html

There seriously needs to be a traffic light there anyway since even during normal days it's a clusterfuck most of the time. It's nearly impossible to make a left turn out of that shopping center and if you're on Holt Garrison Parkway, people leaving the shopping center will wait until you're close, then they'll pull out in front of you. It never fuckin' fails. It's a pain in the ass driving through Danville, especially with the suicide lane from hell on Piney Forest Road (US-29 Business) between Central Boulevard and VA-41.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

For the Twin Cities I would say August between cabin traffic, the return of the state fair as well as Vikings preseason football and their conflict with Twins traffic.

[froggie]

^ Looking at and aggregating MnDOT's ATR monthly reports, the biggest month in the Twin Cities is actually June**.  Combination of summer/cabin traffic, Twins games, and most school districts still being in school until the 2nd week of June.

For Oustate areas, the peak month is mostly July along the major arterials, but a lot more variable for the smaller roads, depending on whether they're in/near a major lakes/resort area (July/August) or not (Spring/Fall).


** While some Twin Cities Interstate stations report August as their busiest month, there are more Interstate stations reporting June.  And the non-Interstate stations in the Metro are noticeably majority June.

[tdindy88]

In Indianapolis, it's one of two months almost certainly: December because of holiday travel and general holiday stuff and May, because of the Indy 500. If we were talking about just Speedway, Indiana, it's May hands down.

[michravera]

Around the South Bay it would definitely have to be December.  There's a lot of folks around here who don't particularly like driving -- and as a result haven't gotten particularly adept at it; but out of (presumably) social necessity have found themselves out in the streets this time of year, visiting acquaintances and family as well as shopping.  Most of the dangerous -- or just plain annoying -- driving maneuvers outlined in the previous posts are on prominent display -- including a UPS driver who missed their exit on SB CA 87 a couple of days ago (right in front of me) and promptly cut over to the right and crossed the gore behind the exit sign to get to the ramp.  I'm guessing he or she was a seasonal "fill-in" rather than a regular brown-suiter.  But perfunctory competence gets shot to hell this time of year -- just when volume is at its peak at or near area shopping centers (the ramp in question above led directly to Oakridge Mall in Almaden Valley).  So yes, there's more overall volume this time of year -- but that pales in comparison to the apparent drop in average skill of the drivers that are out there!   

Christmas's being on a Monday kept the late night Saturday mall shoppers and holiday drunks from tangling it up with people who compete in the weekly Saturday Night Road Race from US-101 onto I-880 (probably more to the circuit than that, but I usually see the race on that section coming home from my work in the amusements industry). Add a couple of fuel trucks at the wrong time and the interchange could have gotten the redesign that so many of us think that it needs!

[Flint1979]

One thing I can say for Michigan is that I-75 can backup for miles when you are traveling northbound on a Friday and southbound on a Sunday in the summer.

One reason it's eight lanes between Saginaw and Flint is because of this.

[US 89]

One thing I can say for Michigan is that I-75 can backup for miles when you are traveling northbound on a Friday and southbound on a Sunday in the summer.

Is there a specific reason for this?

[Flint1979]

One thing I can say for Michigan is that I-75 can backup for miles when you are traveling northbound on a Friday and southbound on a Sunday in the summer.

Is there a specific reason for this?

Yes. It's because of seasonal tourism. Detroit is the largest city and metro area in the state and lots of people have summer homes in northern Michigan.

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