Worst traffic jams you've been in

[golden eagle]

I have a few to share:

Memorial Day 2002: A friend of mine and I were riding back to Atlanta (I was living there then) from Augusta one night on I-20 and just outside of Augusta, traffic stops. I can't tell you how far ahead the traffic jam was, but cars were lined up behind us as far as the eye can see. It was to the point where people got out of their cars to walk around and talk to other people (think of the REM video "Everybody Hurts", though not quite that extreme). Soon, some cars decided to do a U-turn and travel back east to the previous exit to get around the traffic. My friend ended up doing the same thing and before you know it, we were on out merry way. It wasn't until about 1am until we finally got back to Atlanta.

2004: I was traveling back home to Mississippi from Atlanta and right after got on I-20 from 285 on the west side of Atlanta, I saw signs warning of road construction. The construction was taking place near the Six Flags area and traffic was backing up towards 285. It was a distance of four miles, but it took and hour and a half to get through it! And that was because I got off at the next exit to get around the traffic. I admit I didn't know much about the area, so by trial and error, I managed to find my way around with getting lost.

2005: My mom and I were heading out for home from Lake County, IL and road construction was taking place on one of the expressways in Chicago. That caused traffic to back up into the north suburbs. As a result, it took three hours to get through that! 

2007: Also in the Chicago area. As my family and I were approaching Chicago on I-57, a fatal motorcycle accident caused the police to close all lanes of traffic, causing all the traffic to somehow squeeze through by driving along the right shoulder. The accident occurred a little north of I-80 and we were south of 80, but since we were not familiar with the area, we stayed on 57 and toughed it out. It took two hours for us to get through that. 

[Bryant5493]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxoGKisDJ_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQX1bcSX2Dg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94AKRSSQbOU


Be well,

Bryant

[agentsteel53]

Kramer's Junction.

Vegas traffic.

Memorial Day weekend.

6 1/2 hours to get through a single four-way stop.

[Chris]

The worst traffic are usually road closures due to accidents. If we don't take those into account, I was once stuck in a traffic jam for 1 hour. Length: less than a mile.

I also once covered 60 miles in metro-Randstad (Netherlands). It took me 3 hours, basically driving from the one traffic jam to the other. 

[agentsteel53]

people need to learn to not suck at driving.  I spent 4 hours once because someone decided to park their car sideways across two lanes of CA state route 60.  Yes, it is a difficult freeway.  It winds through the mountains and features narrow lanes.  Get your sorry ass over your difficulties and learn how to drive! 

the US would seriously be served better if the driving tests administered at age 15 actually stressed competence, as opposed to the ability to remember obscure regulations.  Great job, kid, you remembered, on your written test, that on a dirt road with at least 5% uphill grade the stopping distance in front of railroad tracks is 425 feet, as opposed to 415 or 435 ... but do you know how to drive? 

When your car spins around on the freeway, will you straighten out and keep going, or will you be just another dumbfudge who proudly makes the stupidest parking job ever, gets plowed by the next halfwit coming around the bend, and ends up upside down and backwards and airbags blowing because you didn't realize that you shouldn't take the next curve so fast? 

Oh no, you'll get your license at age 15 and have your insurance doubled by 17 and a half.  Have fun paying that, you worthless morons - now just get off the road!

[SP Cook]

Worst:  Easy one for me.  I was on I-77 in Virginia when it had a massive slide further south.  I think this was the summer of 89.  Back up was 40 miles. We eventually were turned around and given continental directions (like take 81 South then US 23) to avoid the whole deal.  I just went home, as I had already shot the day.  IIRC, 77 was closed (with US 52 as an alternate) for six months or so.

Runner-up:  Just near my house, Army contractor truck carrying mines and RPGs crashed (actually, of course, there were not armed, they are not stupid enough to send the explosive part and the fuses in the same shipment), but it was the explosive part.  Cops locked down the whole area, including the side roads and waited for the Army to show up, which was from five hours away.  Never got to work that day.

[ctsignguy]

The 401/427 interchange in Toronto when it was undergoing perpetual reconstruction back in the late 90s-early 00's...

and Interstate 401 ....erm.....HWY 401....all across Toronto at ANY daylight hour....8-10 lanes of parking lot for MILES!

[golden eagle]

Thanks for the heads-up on Toronto. I'm planning a trip to Detroit this spring and while there, I'm planning on going over to Buffalo via Ontario and I'm seriously thinking of swinging through Toronto on the way back to Detroit.

[Bryant5493]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umJfeDqRgwI


Be well,

Bryant

[Truvelo]

I've been in many jams but if I hear of any trouble ahead I'll turn off and take some back roads and rejoin ahead of the incident. This is what I did a few years ago when a freeway was closed in both directions following a serious accident. A helicopter had to land to get the patient to hospital urgently. I would say there's a serious accident on the UK freeway network every day. Some days there are many. There are also jams caused by congestion but it's the ones caused by accidents that catch people unexpected.

First picture shows the incident with traffic being held in both directions.
Second picture is looking the other way. Traffic had not moved for so long that people turned their engines off and got out of their vehicles.
Third picture shows the adjacent road on the left is busy as people used it as a diversion.

[agentsteel53]

the story of the army transport reminds me of the first time I ever took US-395 going north-south just past Kramer's Junction.  Edwards Air Force Base is there, and the Air Force was using 395 to transport a rocket component southbound to wherever they needed it to go.  The component was at least 20 feet wide and was transported on a truck that took up both lanes and occasionally pulled over to let traffic go in both directions. 

I was going southbound so I ran into the back of the caravan (a truck and several police escorts).  It was traveling at about 10 mph on average, and I think I lost maybe two hours passing it.  Northbound traffic must've really had some fun, with a southbound police car stopping everyone several miles ahead of the truck, allowing it to proceed southbound for a while before it got to the new roadblock and pulled over, letting one direction go, and then the other.

[agentsteel53]

as for getting out of vehicles ... the other day I was on US-160 across Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado.  There is a section being worked on where only one lane is open.  There was about a 20-30 minute delay; when I pulled up to the waiting line and saw the occupants of the two cars ahead of me standing around and making small talk, I knew it was time to turn the engine off and stretch my legs and, ahem, leave my biological mark in the canyon off to the side of the road!

[Alex]

I spent three hours on Interstate 85 in Greenville in the left-hand lane with my car turned off along with several hundred other drivers. It was February of 1999 and there was a light snow event that morning that caused over 250 accidents in the Greenville area. One of the accidents involved a jack knifed tractor trailer that blocked all southbound lanes. We eventually were all directed to turn around and use the southbound on-ramp back at the previous exit. That was the worst one I've ever experienced...

I've turned around and driven up the wrong way on an on-ramp three times now! The second time was ahead of a monumental back-up along the Howard Frankland Bridge in St. Petersburg. Traffic normally backs up on the weekdays from the hump northward, but this evening we hit the brakes just north of the last Pinellas County on-ramp. I've never seen so many vehicles turn around and use the wrong-way before! A second time on the Howard Frankland we joined a parade of others and did the maintenance vehicle u-turn that exists just underneath the beginning of the bridge. Both times we ended up heading toward one of the two other bridges, which took awhile in its own right.

The last time I got to drive up an on-ramp was south of Fayetteville, NC when traffic screeched to a halt at one of the US 301 interchanges. I quickly followed another driver and got the hell out of dodge, taking sparsely traveled US 301 to BL-95 to avoid the mess! You can see the beginning of the back-up in this photo.

[Truvelo]

We have a TV show called Police Camera Action. It's very similar to World's Wildest Police Videos where video footage from police cars and freeway cameras is shown of incidents ranging from pursuits to people performing illegal maneuvers. Some of those shown are people reversing along ramps when they've spotted stationary traffic ahead. I don't know what the situation in the US is but over here police take a dim view of such action as it could result in a head-on.

Before joining sections of freeway I know that are regularly congested I will drive past the on ramp and take a look at the traffic before committing myself because once on the ramp the only way is forward as I will never turn back just in case a camera is watching.

[Bryant5493]

^^ It's frowned upon in the U.S., but folks still do it.


Be well,

Bryant

[leifvanderwall]

Well I don't know how to list a topic like this :

Last year, I had to drive through a big time traffic jam on I-90/94 ,the Dan Ryan through downtown Chicago with traffic going 20 mph.

Last winter, there was a huge traffic backup on Red Arrow Highway in Van Buren County, Michigan  because of a big accident on I-94 on a wintry snowy day, and it got worse because a semi just couldn't get over a hill on Red Arrow (ancient US 12).

The biggest and longest traffic jam I've ever been on was on I-95 from North Carolina all the way down to the Florida stateline on December 26, 2004. At one point , traffic was going 25 mph in South Carolina and we had a flat tire in the jam. Talk about fun,fun, fun.

[Michael]

people need to learn to not suck at driving.  I spent 4 hours once because someone decided to park their car sideways across two lanes of CA state route 60.  Yes, it is a difficult freeway.  It winds through the mountains and features narrow lanes.  Get your sorry ass over your difficulties and learn how to drive! 

the US would seriously be served better if the driving tests administered at age 15 actually stressed competence, as opposed to the ability to remember obscure regulations.  Great job, kid, you remembered, on your written test, that on a dirt road with at least 5% uphill grade the stopping distance in front of railroad tracks is 425 feet, as opposed to 415 or 435 ... but do you know how to drive? 

When your car spins around on the freeway, will you straighten out and keep going, or will you be just another dumbfudge who proudly makes the stupidest parking job ever, gets plowed by the next halfwit coming around the bend, and ends up upside down and backwards and airbags blowing because you didn't realize that you shouldn't take the next curve so fast? 

Oh no, you'll get your license at age 15 and have your insurance doubled by 17 and a half.  Have fun paying that, you worthless morons - now just get off the road!

I agree. I'm only 19, but I see A LOT of stupid on the road.  I try to do the best I can, but other people sometimes don't even try at all.

On to the worst traffic jams I've been in.   I haven't been driving in any of these.

• Ontario Highway 401 West between Cornwall and Kingston, 2001.  There was an accident near a construction zone on a Saturday.  Both through lanes were open, but people were stopping to look at the camper that got destroyed in the accident.
• I-690, near the NY State Fairgrounds.  There was a rear-end collision involving two cars.  They were parked on the left shoulder, but again, people were looking at the accident.  There are three through lanes, in the area, and all three were backed up.  If one were careful, they could still use the far left lane.  A motorcycle tried passing the pack on the right shoulder, but a police car was parked there, and he couldn't merge back into traffic.
• I-690 West, before the I-690/I-81 interchange.  The ramp from I-690 West to I-81 South was closed, and there were construction workers covering up the BGSes, which caused about a two-mile backup.  It was a hot day, and it took about an hour to get through.  I would've gotten off at Midler Ave and used NY 5 through downtown.

[wandering drive]

Going through Chicago during rush hour.  Full stop. 
I don't understand how people do that every day.  Any time my family goes from Minneapolis to Indiana and parts south/east, we take I-39 through Normal and completely bypass that mess.
One time going through on EB I-80/I-294 heading to the merge with I-94, some guy passed us on the shoulder, only to get caught by a police officer at the merge point.  My dad pulled out his camera as we rolled slowly past, and the cop shouted back "HEY! I didn't say you could take a picture!"  It's still a running joke in our family, but it was never worth the hours and hours of stop and go torture.

[Truvelo]

When people slow down to look at an accident we call it rubbernecking. Do you guys in the US also called it that?

Over here we also have people using the shoulder to jump the line of traffic and they have their 4 way flashers on as an excuse to be there. The cops are well used to this oldest trick in the book and will deal with such drivers in a robust manner.

[signalman]

Yes, we call it rubbernecking on this side of the pond too.  It aggravates me big time too.  Why folks have to slow down to wallow in someone else's misery just astounds me.  I can see it if folks are slowing down on the side of the accident or disabled car.  But when people on the opposite side do it, I get pissed.  If you wanna see that, stay home and watch police videos on Tru TV.

[Truvelo]

An example can be found here where the red car in the lane nearest the median is causing traffic to bunch up behind it. All that happened was traffic had been stopped on the opposite carriageway to allow a disabled car to be moved to the shoulder.

[Terry Shea]

I don't know if this was the worst traffic jam I've ever been in but it was certainly the most frustrating.

I was taking a trip to Niagara Falls.  My plan was to stop for gas right before the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.  That way I wouldn't have to gas up in Canada since gas was so much more expensive there.  The problem was when I hit the I-69/I-94 multiplex traffic was at a standstill and I was very low on gas (less than 1/8 of a tank).  After about 45 minutes traffic started to crawl ever so slowly, then it stopped again about 1/4 short of the next exit.  Several cars pulled onto the shoulder to get to the exit.  I decided to join them since running out of gas in a traffic lane on a busy stretch of freeway didn't sound good at all.  No sooner did I pull onto the shoulder when a police cruiser pulled up and decided write us all up for "blocking the way for emergency vehicles" so some such obscurity.  We weren't blocking anything, we were moving and would have been off from the shoulder in a matter of seconds, but now she had us all parked on the shoulder waiting to get our tickets.  I explained the situation to her and showed her my gas gauge, but the bitch was intent on making examples of all of us "hoodlums".  I found out later a truck had jackknifed on the bridge (this was before they built the 2nd span) tying up traffic in both directions.

[mightyace]

When people slow down to look at an accident we call it rubbernecking. Do you guys in the US also called it that?

Yes, it's called rubbernecking here, too.

Here in Tennessee, people will even slow down to rubberneck a cop having pulled someone over! 

Over here we also have people using the shoulder to jump the line of traffic and they have their 4 way flashers on as an excuse to be there. The cops are well used to this oldest trick in the book and will deal with such drivers in a robust manner.

People do that here, too.  However, I've never seen anyone who does it use their flashers.  I've also rarely seen police and/or highway patrol enforce this.

[signalman]

^ I too have witnessed people rubberneck for a traffic stop.  People need to mind their own business.  As I stated earlier, you wanna see that stuff, stay home and watch police videos from shows like Cops or Speeders or shows like that.

[US71]

Worst for me was a college football game. I was driving a cab and the passengers wanted off at the front gate. I got stuck in traffic and the police wouldn't let me through, so I had to let them off 2 blocks away. I then got griped at by the police for holding up traffic while my passengers were getting out.