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How’s Traffic In Your Area Nearly 2 Years Into Covid


ChrisL

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I had always been in office so enjoyed near empty freeways for a long while.  However I have noticed in increase in traffic flow but it is still no where near precovid.

My drive to and from work always had one area where it would bottle neck and I’d be stopped & under 10 MPH for a few miles.  Now we just slow at that point but never stop and usually maintain speeds over 30 MPH. 

I live right in the middle of the confluence of 3 freeways.  Surface street traffic used to be horrible in the mornings and it would often take me 10-15 minutes to go about 1/2 a mile to get on the freeway.  Now there is just a slight back up at the light for the on-ramp. 

It seems Covid kept many people at home as the freeways near me are still much better than precovid. 

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I try to avoid driving in general, but when I venture out on the Beltway, 24/7/365, it remains a nightmare - especially the Tysons to 270 split.  Just insane.  My buddy works on our cars but he lives in Silver Spring.  We drop the car at his place and then pick it up when he is done, so it means two trips up around that bad stretch.  It sucks at 9am on a Sat. At 5pm Sat. At noon on Sun, and 8pm on Sun.  Pretty much sucky all the time :(

That used to be my commute in the early 2000s, and it sucked then, but I don't think weekends were as bad then.

During work days, though, I think things are marginally better volume-wise, but road construction is never ending and FUBARs everything.

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17 minutes ago, groupw said:

Traffic volume is about the same as it was before Covid. People are more rude and less patient than before. The number of people running lights and stop signs is unreal! Oddly, I don’t see as many wrecks, but the ones that happen are much worse. 

Yup, this.  Anarchy.  Can't wait for self driving cars

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IT SUCKS MAJOR ASS! 

I 64 is a major corridor going into/out of Louisville from Southern Indiana.  They are remodeling the bridge over the Ohio and it is constantly down to 1 lane.  I65  is about 7 miles away and a big re-route to take, but traffic has gotten a little worse there since people are avoiding 64.  AND that bridge is tolled.  So it's pay a toll and drive further or possibly wait a little bit (or a lot) and drive 64.  

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6 minutes ago, jsharr said:

The commute is back to normal but our building is not back to normal as the two big tenants are still allowing employees to work remotely.  I seldom have to share an elevator with anyone or even walk close to anyone from my car to my office.

You at least HAVE an office.  We got rid of mine, and all of my stuff is in boxes in our company HQ - which is too small to handle all the folks who were there plus my group.  We're not headed back anywhere anytime soon, but I think our HQ is scheduled to be demolished (6 or 8 floors?) and replaced with a much taller building.  Across the street is the Capital campus, and they have a couple of nice new shiny high rises, so I imagine the property owner sees dollar signs with a Metro stop and those new buildings nearby.  Not sure when that will happen, but I assume the HQ folks are actually looking for new space that works for all of us post-COVID.

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12 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I try to avoid driving in general, but when I venture out on the Beltway, 24/7/365, it remains a nightmare - especially the Tysons to 270 split.  Just insane.  My buddy works on our cars but he lives in Silver Spring.  We drop the car at his place and then pick it up when he is done, so it means two trips up around that bad stretch.  It sucks at 9am on a Sat. At 5pm Sat. At noon on Sun, and 8pm on Sun.  Pretty much sucky all the time :(

That used to be my commute in the early 2000s, and it sucked then, but I don't think weekends were as bad then.

During work days, though, I think things are marginally better volume-wise, but road construction is never ending and FUBARs everything.

When we buried my brother in Arlington Cemetery we stayed at my BIL’s and drove through Tysons to the beltway.  My wife’s grandparents lived near Tysons mall and in the 80’s & 90’s we could see their building from the road.  We noticed there was so much new construction we could no longer see their building. 

Yeah that area got crazy busy. 

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Traffic is still lighter than pre-Covid. Not as pain free as at the height of “stay home or die” period. Rt 66, the fastest way to work is still being renovated to add toll lanes so I don’t go that way. Accidents, construction delays and accidents caused by construction delays can and do happen frequently. Last night there was a five-car pileup on 66 eastbound. Early this morning on the beltway near Rt 50 (the area @Razors Edge described) a VW rear ended a dump truck with at least one fatality.

Air traffic is up. I drive past Dulles twice a day and can see 7 to 10 planes lined up to land. 

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It is back to normal some days, other days it’s still light 

I have noticed much worse driving, the center line in the road seems to be a suggestion rather than a rule, and red lights are invisible 

My commute in back up to 15 minutes most days, rather than the 12 minutes at the height of COVID 

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6 minutes ago, Further said:

I have noticed much worse driving, the center line in the road seems to be a suggestion rather than a rule, and red lights are invisible 

If we learned anything from the past few years, it would be that rules don't apply to "me".  In fact, following rules is a sign of weakness.  Makes me quite nostalgic sometimes.

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I've been working from home since March 2020, so I don't have a good sense of traffic.  I thought it was still down a lot (the parking lot at the commuter train station is definitely much less empty than in 2019), but I went to the dentist this week during morning "drive time" and was shocked at how much traffic I saw.  The entrance to the highway was backed up and even side roads that lead to the highway were backed up with it taking a number of lights in order to get through the intersection.  But I heard there was an accident that morning on the highway, so that may have been the issue.

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Several observations are the same as the above.Traffic flow is a little lighter but increasing.  Speeds are way up.  Cruising at a mere 75 on a 65 highway relegates one to the far right lane where you can routinely watch some passing you at 145or 20 over.  If you get too slow they will pass you at that speed on the shoulder, especially after an on ramp where they have committed to getting in front of as many cars as possible before merging.  Right turn on red if clear after a stop has become right turn on red no slowdown required and very little attention to whether or not anyone is coming on the main road.  Stop signs are a yield at 20 or more and yield signs are non existent for all the good they do.  Cell phone use is way up judging by the erratic driving else day drinking has become normal.  Driver skills seem to be down, possibly by lack of practice last year or maybe just because nobody give a shit anymore about skills.  Ins and outs along with right turn only signs or no right turn on red are totally optional.

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Cluster mess over here, once again back to normal. Not to mention construction at most major intersections. The back streets crowded as usual but now construction on the overpasses along the 10 fwy so even the backstreets suck now. 

I would expect that to happen but others aren't so bright. :lol:

I went on a ride with a friend, took us from Covina to Pomona, San Dimas and back.  Took us through Cal Poly and Mt Sac colleges. There was a ton of fast traffic and no shoulder, and filled with debris. The entire 25 mile course was scary. I was holding onto my bars tight and hoping not to get hit. 

My friend had assured me it was a nice course and light traffic before the ride so  I asked, "wth was up with the traffic, you said it was light traffic." My friend's response was, "well last time I did it, it was during the covid shut down." :facepalm:

That area is usually packed with traffic. I had mentioned that before the ride but my friend assured me that we would be on lightly traveled roads. :angry:

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Traffic has been about the same all the time. A lot of buggy traffic early in the morning, then hardly any all day, then it picks up around supper time. Sunday’s have the most traffic because everyone is going to church. The only traffic jams are when there is a funeral procession but even that doesn’t hold you up for long because the Amish cemetery is less than two miles away. I haven’t seen or heard of anyone dying since before Covid.

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2 hours ago, Further said:

It is back to normal some days, other days it’s still light 

I have noticed much worse driving, the center line in the road seems to be a suggestion rather than a rule, and red lights are invisible 

My commute in back up to 15 minutes most days, rather than the 12 minutes at the height of COVID 

 

2 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

If we learned anything from the past few years, it would be that rules don't apply to "me".  In fact, following rules is a sign of weakness.  Makes me quite nostalgic sometimes.

My wife comments that drivers are worse since Covid but dayum she’s the one cutting people off or will ride a cars ass to box out a car trying to merge….

She’s works from home now so rarely drives but gets angry more quickly when she does and drives way more aggressively.  I wonder if that’s what’s happening to the others?

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22 minutes ago, Mr Beanz said:

Cluster mess over here, once again back to normal. Not to mention construction at most major intersections. The back streets crowded as usual but now construction on the overpasses along the 10 fwy so even the backstreets suck now. 

I would expect that to happen but others aren't so bright. :lol:

I went on a ride with a friend, took us from Covina to Pomona, San Dimas and back.  Took us through Cal Poly and Mt Sac colleges. There was a ton of fast traffic and no shoulder, and filled with debris. The entire 25 mile course was scary. I was holding onto my bars tight and hoping not to get hit. 

My friend had assured me it was a nice course and light traffic before the ride so  I asked, "wth was up with the traffic, you said it was light traffic." My friend's response was, "well last time I did it, it was during the covid shut down." :facepalm:

That area is usually packed with traffic. I had mentioned that before the ride but my friend assured me that we would be on lightly traveled roads. :angry:

There is a widening project just north of me on the 405 but fortunately I drive south so construction free! But the few times I have had to go north from my house it’s been a nightmare. 

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Just now, ChrisL said:

There is a widening project just north of me on the 405 but fortunately I drive south so construction free! But the few times I have had to go north from my house it’s been a nightmare. 

It's everywhere.  Gina told me there is a plan to shut down a one mile section of the 10 freeway in Ontario. She goes that way to work in Devore. It's already a nightmare heading that way, this is going to be murder.

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Weekday rush hour traffic is still lighter, and that's based both on observations driving in it, as well as actual counts (since I'm in that business).  During midday hours and especially weekends, volumes are back where we'd expect.

Actually a number of recent counts I've seen suggest that rush hour volumes are still 20%-30% below what we'd expect.  Around here, at least.

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Just now, maddmaxx said:

The younger asshole drivers are still driving WRXs but the older ones have moved on to Audis and Beemers.

You think SW had a WRX??? :scratchhead:  I could see it.

My cousin's kid up in your neck of the woods just got a BMW.  He's not an ass. 

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Hard to say, I'm thinking about back to pre-covid. My biggest jam was the 0.8 miles to the next main road from my house. Elementary school at the light, .2 miles later another light. Since 2/1/2020, it has been under construction, took out the school light put in a circle, extending & adding lanes. It was going to be better either way. Evenings, it is way down, but an extended lane & the circle really keep things moving.

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5 hours ago, Parr8hed said:

IT SUCKS MAJOR ASS! 

I 64 is a major corridor going into/out of Louisville from Southern Indiana.  They are remodeling the bridge over the Ohio and it is constantly down to 1 lane.  I65  is about 7 miles away and a big re-route to take, but traffic has gotten a little worse there since people are avoiding 64.  AND that bridge is tolled.  So it's pay a toll and drive further or possibly wait a little bit (or a lot) and drive 64.  

I took the toll bridge last week heading to Cincy for a funeral. The bill will be in the mail shortly.

I just noticed that there's a lot more traffic around St. Louis lately compared to when Covid started. Not quite to the point of before Covid. The MetroLink light transit ridership is way down but it was heading south before the pandemic. Seems that most of the security guards aren't armed and one was shot and killed. If the train guard can't defend themselves, I'm not riding on it.

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16 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

I'm completely convinced the worsening traffic is significantly related to distracted driving.  I barely move on the highway, so I get to see hundreds of people on their phones.  We're handsfree in MA.  The law is clearly a joke.

It's a secondary charge in most cases.  Have an accident and injure someone and they will check to see if your phone was in use at the time.  Most traffic laws today have become a joke.  We are too many to be policed so they just take action when they have to.

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Traffic here seems to be back to normal, which doesn't mean that is a good thing.

I'm glad I'm retired...  that means I can decide when I can drive to a destination.  There are some times you don't want to drive park on the Chisago area expressways parking lots.

Of course there is construction that is going on some of the interstate highways I need to use to visit my dad.  I just pick the best time to drive the route.  The last time, there was a 4 car collisoin that realy f'd things up for a while. 

I'd say that traffic is indeed mvong faster. I just stay to the right and let them fly by. 

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Driving here was good - empty freeways - until the Fall of 2020, when it slowly returned to close to normal by the end of the year.

The Baltimore-Washington area has heavily congested traffic in normal times and it's been heavily congested most of this year.

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6 hours ago, Airehead said:

I was kind of thinking about this on my way to work. If everyone is quitting their jobs, why was Jefferson Road so bust at 6:10?

I had the same thought aboot people working from home. Then I thought there must be lots of people who moved far from work and then had to start driving there again. We are doomed.  :( Excess driving is so batshit crazy. 

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During COVID I was able to get to work and not worry about the useless things like stop signs or stop lights since no one else was out on the roads.. Now we have to start using the stupid things and also driving in school zones again.. went from a 7 min car ride to work to a 20 min car ride.. I hate the general population again! 

 

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