It was said that Highway 17 in California between San Jose and Santa Cruz is one of the worst highways in the U.S… Rumor had it that some GM or Ford test track was actually modeled after it – although that sounds like a bit of an urban legend.
What it has going for it is all manner of blind turns, high speed stretches punctuated by hairpin turns, rock slides, water crossing the road, and sudden fog that hits with no warning. It was slightly improved a few years ago so that traffic in opposite directions was protected by a divider.
It’s further blessed with an assortment of heavy trucks, commuters, and blissed out tourists coming from a day of heavy partying at the beach.
Don’t get me wrong; the 405 in L.A. is not a fun drive most of the time, especially over the Sepulveda Pass as Javamaven points out. But southbound from the 10 on the way to work, it’s actually pretty good. Some stretches you can go 80 mph. Coming home in the afternoon is the pisser, starting around the 105 and continuing up into the Valley. Those are the times I wish I had ridden the Yamaha!
But I must agree with Rick. Portland’s freeways can be confusing. On my first trip I tried to stay on the 5, but with little warning and in heavy traffic I found myself on the wrong side of the freeway. It took quite a detour to get back to the 5. Added to that, Oregon has absurdly low speed limits around cities, Oregon drivers tend to drive about 5 mph below the speed limit anyway (at least a large number of them do), and the bridges and merges Rick mentioned. (I’ve never been able to figure out why people have to slow down to cross a bridge.)
Then there’s Seattle. Seattle is a big city. But unlike Los Hideous, which is spread out and has a spider’s web of freeways, Seattle is scrunched between Puget Sound and some big hills. And everyone wants to drive through on the 5. Which, BTW, has at least one odd split going northbound, and a messy merge near a tunnel.
Portland, to me, didn’t seem any worse than the 405 northbound around LAX in the afternoon. Driving through Seattle is much worse. They could advertise their freeways thusly: “All the cars, and less space!” or “Visit the Fabulous Freeway Funnel!”
I’ve heard Boston is pretty bad, but I’ve only driven there once and it was in the middle of the day instead of rush hour; so I breexed through. (Except I had to listen to my co-worker constantly urging me to slow down. Sheesh, I was only doing 70.)
There isn’t. The Cross-Bronx is one of the most dangerous and scary highways there is. Six lanes, with giant walls about two feet from the side and filled with big trucks trying to go 65. Luckily, there’s usually an accident to slow things down to a dead stop. This is its one safety feature.
I took it for several years driving from LI to Albany. When I finally discovered the Whitestone and the Hutch, I added several years to my life.
When I first saw the title to this thread, my first thought was Toronto’s 401. I’ve driven all over the US and Canada, and in my opinion, the 401 would win the “Worst Freeway” prize hands down.
Oddly enough, I’ve been driving the 401 ever since I learned to drive, so I’m probably one of those whom the OP refers to. Still, even we 401 veterans have to deal with seemingly endless construction, lanes that seem to shift from day to day, and the lanes that peel off into exits without much warning.
Still, all my 401 skills have been severely tested on roads referred to here, like the Cross-Bronx in New York, I-405 in Los Angeles, and I-5 in Seattle. But I’d have to say that Toronto’s 401 still takes it.
Just as an aside, anybody travelled eastbound on I-70 into Denver? It’s no problem for a car, but it must be hell for the trucker–all the signs saying things like “Truckers, gear down,” and then a few miles later, “Truckers, we’re not kidding,” followed a few miles later by “Truckers, you’re not done yet.” Perhaps the truckers would have a different opinion on the worst freeway.
Wow, this question seemed to really hit a nerve. Of the other nominations so far, I’ve only experienced Highway 2 in Boston (I wasn’t driving but I was still in fear for my life), the I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley (pretty bad, but really more boring than anything else) and the PA Turnpike (if you can avoid the construction, nowhere near as bad as advertised).
I didn’t think New Yorkers (or any US citizens) were permitted to take the 407 “ETR” in Ontario. That’s what I’ve been told anyway…and I’m sure not going to take it at $3.30 plus 12.10 cents/km, even if it is Canadian money.
I would also nominate some of the freeways in Atlanta, but they were scary mainly because my sister was driving.
PA Turnpike and some of it’s connecting roads are the worst, and this is corroborated by trucker surveys.
On some parts, near Philly, you have about 15 feet of merging lane before you run into a concrete wall that separates you from a plummeting death into the Schuykill river. And this happens at on-ramp after on -ramp. 90% of drivers slam their brakes in a panic, leaving everyone the chance of merging in 15 feet, from a standing start, with very little chance of even seeing the lane you are merging into in your mirror. You know of any cars that go 0-70 in 15 feet? And if you manage this acceleration rate, you have to merge into a lane you can’t see.
Up in the hilly parts, getting outta Philly, you have to fight narrow lanes and tough traffic…and at night the most fearlesss drivers get shakey because the visibility is brutal. The oncoming traffic is just blinding - for some strange reason it;s just worse than anything I’ve seen.
I’ll throw in with 95 around the metro DC and Baltimore area, especially the beltways. With bottlenecks every other mile or so, the “mixing bowl,” constant construction during peak hours, commuter and tourist traffic on top of people trying to drive through, 95 is loads of stress. I’d like to thank the geniuses who plunked this monstrosity right in the middle of the major east coast artery.
The drivers, of course, are another subject. It’s war out there. Buckle up!
Just for a little local flavor, I nominate northbound Dan Ryan in Chicago for overall crowded city driving, and 80/94 around the tip of Michigan for the combination of truck traffic and perpetual road construction.
I’ve driven the 401 from Detroit to Toronto many times and it is bad. My wife’s co worker died in an accident on that (going to pick up his daughter from college). It wasn’t the traffic being stopped as much as the stop and go nature of it. I like to just kick back and relax but driving that I feel like I’m in a sleet storm all the time.
I would bet southeast Michigan ahs the worst freeways in terms of quality. I’ve heard all the theories why our roads are so bad, yet they seem to be fine in Ohio and Indiana. If you ever come up here, wait until you get back to get any repairs done.
I guess none of you have been to Atlanta! I’ll nominate I-285, known locally as the “the perimeter” and dubbed by me as “the twelve lanes of hell.” God help you if you need to get somewhere in a hurry between the hours of, say 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm, and 285 is your only route. Refrigerators, mattresses and ladders seem to land in the middle of the road with alarming frequency, thereby gumming up the works. And the intersection of the twelve lanes of 285 with the twelve lanes of I-85 (known here as “spaghetti junction”) is a place you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy!
I have to agree on Highway 17 being bad (even now). Last Summer I had a temp job where I commuted from San Jose to Soquel. While the traffic wasn’t bad because of the direction I went (against traffic) the commute was pretty scary.
There are many parts where there is NO shoulder. Its a two lane windy ass road with a rock face on one side and a concrete divider on the other. When I would commute in the morning, I had to stay in the left lane, because big trucks had to stay in the right lane and the speed limit for them was 35 mph. In the right lane, people were blazing along at 80 mph including on the hairpins. A couple days a week there would be an accident. Several times that summer there would be a recent wreck which completely stopped traffic for 30+ minutes since there’s no shoulder to clear accidents off of in some parts. At dawn, sunlight would filter through the trees, creating a strobic effect that made it hard to concentrate. Shadowy areas would be so dark I would have to turn on my headlights because I would be literally driving into a black void. And the fog…it literally shows up out of nowhere and almost eliminates any visibility. Very nerve-wracking!
I-40 frm Memphis to the Oklahoma state line, thru arkansas. All of it is either under construction or so bumpy it’s littered with hubcaps. Plus the area around West Memphis is the most horrendous “scenery” this side the the Inferno.
The Dan Ryan is pretty alarming. Used to be HIghway 10 in Wisconsin sucked - anyone know if it’s any better these days?
I’ll second the Atlanta nomination. Very challenging course. Not for wimps. You don’t have to be a maniac to navigate there but it sure helps.vroom vroom!
I’d like to nominate the 401 between Windsor and Chatham (maybe all the way to London). The last I drove it, it wasn’t the smoothest road in the world. The worst part, however, is the visibility. In some spots, even on clear days, it’s tough to see any safe distance in front of you just by they way it’s set up but if there’s even a little fog you’re screwed. I remember a couple years ago there was a huge pile up (50 cars seems to ring a bell) in that stretch. I searched for an article with no luck.
Toronto’s version of the 401 just takes a little time, I don’t have much trouble with it anymore. I find if you keep left you won’t end up hitting any exits. I mean sure it’s packed during rush hour but I dare you to find a major route that isn’t (on a regular basis I mean).
Oh, please. The 401 isn’t even the worst highway in TORONTO. The QEW/Gardiner Expressway, which runs through downtown Toronto west around the lake towards Hamilton, is much, much worse. Imagine the 401 except with absolutely no shoulder, just concrete walls, and the driving is just as terrible. 401 drivers are ludicrously fast - the average speed, I would guess, is 80 mph without traffic - but QEW drivers are far more aggressive and erratic, and much likelier to be drinking coffee, talking on cellphones, reading the newspaper or what have you.
However, Philster is right: the worst I’ve ever personally been on was the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which as near as I can tell was constructed by Romans around the third century B.C. and has not been repaired since. The curvy nature of the freeway and tall barriers gives you maybe 200 feet of visibility at the best of times. The lanes are about three feet wide and 80% of all the vehicles are tractor-trailers driven by escapees from the nearest institute for the criminally insane.
Word to those who mentioned Portland and Seattle. I suffer multiple simultaneous anxiety attacks when I have to drive in either. Fortunately, it’s only been once in Seattle (having ridden in the car more often, I’ve seen the carnage up close and personal). However I have many friends in Portland, and have spent probably years of my life in various obscure little rundown neighbourhoods, screaming and pounding my steering wheel and wondering how in the holy hell I came to be here when I was tooling along happily on the freeway a moment earlier. Don’t even get me started on downtown, where three-lane streets suddenly and without warning lose a lane to traffic parked on the side of the street. This results in you driving merrily along, and suddenly screaming and braking as you realize you’re driving through parking spots. You will also encounter miles upon miles of one way streets that ALL LEAD IN ONE DIRECTION, inevitably when you are just trying to make one tiny little lefthand turn so you can turn around and head back the other way so you can try to find the exit to the freeway you were accidentally herded off of about an hour ago.
And during all of this, you will be accompanied by scores of angry drivers who will honk and swerve at you and roll down their windows to yell at you to get the fuck out of downtown, to which you will weepily scream back: “I’M TRYING!!!”
The PA Turnpike isn’t too bad, just busy, and there’s always construction. However, Philly roads are a nightmare. It’s one of the few places around that I’m actually afraid of driving in.
My vote for the worst interchange on Earth is the Eisenhower Interchange here in Harrisburg. 422 meets I-283 meets I-83, which later turns into 581, and that’s atrocious. From the Eisenhower to Camp Hill it’s either bumper-to-bumper or it’s some real white knuckle driving.
It’s easier to take the Turnpike, but I like life on the edge sometimes.
