The Most Hated Freeway in Each City

[theroadwayone]

In San Diego, I'd have to say the 805. That, or the 52, specifically the bit near the 163/15 interchange.

[webny99]

For Rochester, I really don't think any of our freeways are "hated", which goes to show how spoiled this area is in terms of traffic congestion. But if pressed, I would nominate the following sections as the most frustrating:
-The four-lane section of I-490 between Exit 25 and 27
-I-490 between Exit 21 and 23 (needs auxiliary lanes)
-Maybe a few others that I will add as I think of them


For Buffalo, I would think it has to be the free section of I-90, especially north of I-190, due to the mixture of local and thru traffic and outdated cloverleaf interchanges at NY 33 and Walden Ave. I am not aware of any major issues with I-190 and I-990, and the issues with I-290 and NY 33 are arguably because of I-90 (in particular, the slowdowns on the south/westbound approaches to I-90).

[Max Rockatansky]

In San Diego, I'd have to say the 805. That, or the 52, specifically the bit near the 163/15 interchange.

CA 75 gets incredibly frustrating when there is military traffic or a wreck going over the Coronado Bridge. 

[MCRoads]

Does it have to be a freeway, or can it be an expressway? Because COS only has 1 freeway and 1 B/S expressway (Powers Blvd.). Powers Blvd is the most hated road here. Period.

[OCGuy81]

I don't live there, but from visits to Austin, is it a safe assumption that I-35 wins this title?

[kernals12]

I don't live there, but from visits to Austin, is it a safe assumption that I-35 wins this title?

Probably

[Rothman]

Chicago: Basically anything that's not the tollways, but since I have to narrow it down to one choice, I-290.

Pretty much all the expressways are horrid Chicago.  At least the Kennedy and Van Ryan have cool views of downtown.

90/94 was improved greatly over what it was like when I was a kid.

[thspfc]

Madison: Beltline
Milwaukee: I-43 between WI-145 and Silver Spring Drive

[Flint1979]

Detroit: The Lodge and The Southfield.

Hardly.  In Detroit, the OP's definition of "a freeway built 70 years ago that carries twice or 3 times as much traffic as it was designed for and lacks shoulders or auxiliary lanes making it notorious for accidents" is synonymous with "I-94 Ford Freeway."

Nobody likes commuting on the Lodge, it was by far the most hated freeway when I lived in the area.

I don't know why.  Other than the long southbound backup (which hasn't existed for the past year) because of the stupid left entrance at the Davison Freeway, it's not at all a bad ride, especially since the 2008/2009 reconstruction of its northern 10 miles.  It's no comparison to the narrow, horrendous pavement, no acceleration lanes, permanently littered, "is that wrapped-in-plywood-to-catch-crumbling-concrete bridge going to collapse while I'm stopped underneath it?" experience of the Ford.

I was surprised at how improved the Lodge really was when I drove it again in 2019.  When I left the area your description of the Edsel Ford also applied equally to the Lodge Freeway if not more so.  There seems to be a lot of people that have negative memories of the Lodge that will probably always hate it.  The Lodge even now certainly is not a handsome freeway.

Detroit's population has shrunk considerably over the years.

Detroit has had roughly the same Metro population (right around 4 million) for quite a few decades. Plus the north end of the Lodge is in Oakland County which is at it's peak population as well as Macomb County. It's just Detroit and Wayne County losing population pretty much. Some of Oakland and Macomb is like Southfield and Warren but it's mostly stable with population north of 14 Mile.

[CoreySamson]

I don't live there, but from visits to Austin, is it a safe assumption that I-35 wins this title?

Yes. Horrendous traffic all day on a summer Saturday when I visited in 2019. Even really busy at 9 PM at night.

Houston would likely be the Pierce Elevated.

Baton Rouge would be I-10 between I-110 and I-12.

[texaskdog]

I don't live there, but from visits to Austin, is it a safe assumption that I-35 wins this title?

Yep.  and its ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

[ztonyg]

It seems that every metro area has one: a freeway built 70 years ago that carries twice or 3 times as much traffic as it was designed for and lacks shoulders or auxiliary lanes making it notorious for accidents. And usually, someone will quip that it is "the world's longest parking lot"

Examples:
Boston: Southeast Expressway
New York: Long Island Expressway
Philadelphia: Schuylkill Expressway
Los Angeles: I-405
London: M25

What are some others?

Phoenix: I-10 (it can be a parking lot from the Loop 202 / AZ 51 interchange to 59th Ave). Interestingly it's not that old but they're aren't a lot of great freeway alternatives for most of the traffic flows it carries.

[Henry]

Here in Seattle, it would be WA 99, especially when the double-decker Alaskan Way freeway was still standing. Also, I-5 would most certainly qualify, but the upside is the awesome views of downtown and Mt. Rainier in the distance.

[PastTense]

New York: Long Island Expressway

Are you sure about this? For example the Cross Bronx Expressway always seems to be heavily congested.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Madison: Beltline

Out of all the wide range of choices Madison has to offer for freeways, I'm shocked.

[Max Rockatansky]

Here in Seattle, it would be WA 99, especially when the double-decker Alaskan Way freeway was still standing. Also, I-5 would most certainly qualify, but the upside is the awesome views of downtown and Mt. Rainier in the distance.

Personally I always found I-5 worse given by large margin considering how many people tried to avoid the Viaduct.  Usually I wouldn't hit traffic on 99 until the Viaduct and it would disappear on both ends of downtown.

[US 89]

I-15 would be the obvious choice for Salt Lake. You can pretty much count on congestion in the southern Salt Lake Valley at most times of the day - in both directions.

[bing101]

San Francisco I-80@US-101 James Lick freeway has to be hated due to both Financial District traffic and Bay Bridge traffic.
Oakland I-880 due to Port of Oakland Traffic and Toll Traffic on the Bay Bridge with I-80 Eastshore fwy.

[kj3400]

For Baltimore, it'll have to be I-695, our beltway. It feels like the southwest end has been under construction since I was a kid, about 25 years.

[ran4sh]

New York: Long Island Expressway

Are you sure about this? For example the Cross Bronx Expressway always seems to be heavily congested.

A lot of New Yorkers don't use the Cross Bronx. It's mostly thru traffic and trucks that are inconvenienced.

[jas]

New York: Long Island Expressway

Are you sure about this? For example the Cross Bronx Expressway always seems to be heavily congested.

Yeah, I'm more inclined to go with the BQE, which is ALWAYS terrible.

[sprjus4]

DC area... I-95 southbound approaching the Occoquan River has to be a runner up... notoriously long backups caused simply due to a poor location to drop the 4th lane.

[1995hoo]

New York: Long Island Expressway

Are you sure about this? For example the Cross Bronx Expressway always seems to be heavily congested.

The LIE certainly qualifies as a road people in that area call "the world's longest parking lot," per what the OP mentioned.

[zachary_amaryllis]

i nominate denver's i-270.
i have sort of a love/hate relationship with this road. it's handy, since a lot of my denver friends live on the east/northeast side of town and its handy to get to them via that road...

that being said.. it's beat to all hell, frequently congested, and just a hot mess. like, it gets no respect for being what it is.

[thspfc]

Madison: Beltline

Out of all the wide range of choices Madison has to offer for freeways, I'm shocked.

Yeah, it's an obvious pick. The only other freeways in Madison proper are I-39/90/94, WI-30, and a sliver of US-151.