Note: not cities; we all know that driving through NYC, Boston, LA, Houston, London etc is a pain in the ass. Which towns do you dread driving through every time you have to, and why?
For me it’s Alfred, Maine. I went through there today on my way to Saco, and was reminded of how very much I dislike driving through this town. First, it’s mostly downhill on the route I take through it, and that’s never fun. Second, it’s mostly down hill **and ** the speed limit on the entire route through town is 25. Thirdly it’s mostly downhill, the speed limit is 25 and this often comes as a complete shock to the person in front of you who decides they need to slow down immediately upon noticing the speed limit signs thus slamming on their brakes which slows them considerably more than they were aiming for. Brake, brake, brake :rolleyes:
Bishop, CA is pretty brutal. Long stretchs both to the North and South that invite excessive speeds, but are closely watched with artifically low limits. CHP are nasty folks also.
I know it’s part of a large metropolitan area, but I hate driving through Culver City, California.
The city seems to have no two streets that meet at a right angle, I’m always lost and it’s full of Westside L.A. drivers who are the most loathesome of all Southern California drivers as they all drive with the attitude of “I am the most important person in the world and you are in my way.”
Jasper, Alabama and the surrounding towns. And Dothan, Alabama. I have the unfortunate pleasure of passing through these towns when driving to Florida from Tennessee. For some reason Alabama doesn’t think there needs to be an interstate all the way into Birmingham, they’re just going to let you try to wade through backroads for the last 50 miles into town. And Dothan - ugh - same interstate problem. You’ve never seen so much traffic in a town that could fit on a New York city block. I must waste an hour travelling the few mile loop around the city every darn time.
A bunch of little towns between Binghamton and Ithaca. You’re flying along on these great curvy, hilly roads, having a blast, you crest a hill and take your foot off the gas just to see how fast you can end up going by the time you reach the bottom, you find out that it’s just over seventy miles an hour–and then you hit a 25 mph speed zone with no warning.
And then as the blinking lights appear behind you, you realize that you haven’t taken off your garb from the SCA event, and Officer Willy White is soon gonna be asking you some tough questions about why you’re wearing a dress and carrying a big knife.
Also, I hate driving through a number of the towns on the Eastside (of Lake Washington, near Seattle–e.g., Redmond). There’s nothing particularly memorable about them; they’re just evil suburban hellholes.
There is a way to go around Dothan by back roads that is much faster than going around Ross Clark Circle. I wish I could tell you how to do it, but I only know the route by sight - I don’t know the road numbers. But you’re right - the circle is one light after another, and it’s always congested.
I nominate Columbus, Georgia. Getting from US 431 to I-185 is a royal pain in the butt.
They have a 15 year construction project going on right in the middle of town where I-4 intersects I-275, it’s called malfunction junction. I’m not sure if you are all aware of the way they do road construction in FL. They change which lane you are supposed to be in to go to the same place every day. If no one gets killed, they might keep the current configuration for a week or so, otherwise they change it again.
I have two. (Check the populations if you think they’re big cities) And yes, I was part of the problem.
Brooklyn, MI going to a NASCAR race at MIS.
Bristol, TN going to a NASCAR race at BMS.
Given the traffic that day, I’d blow myself if I could trade the traffic for rush-hour on the Tri-State in Chi-Town. (i.e. impossible!)
I hate Towson. All shoppers and hipster college kids. No street runs more than one block in any direction. York road enters the rotary at 6 O’Clock, but exits at 10 O’Clock. Dulaney Valley road exits at 12 O’Clock.
Roads are arbitrarily one-way. When exiting parking lots, you’re either trying to pull into cars spaced 20 feet apart, or the line of cars has stopped at a light right in front of you.
The parking meters all seem to be on different time tables.
Some “east-west” roads which you think you connect you to the next “north-south” road make sudden turns and don’t get you anywhere near where you thought you were going. Roads that run parallel mysteriously diverge or converge willy-nilly.
Oh, and that rotary I mentioned. . .2 lanes. . .the outside lane is usually filled with people going 270 degrees. Traffic must stop for pedestrians, which people only notice when they’re 2 feet from them because they’re so busy trying not to smash other cars.
Never go there.
OP: I was once rear-ended by someone from Alfred, ME. I’d only had my license 10 days.
I’ve also made that drive from Binghamton to Ithaca.
Johnsonburg, PA, south of Bradford on US 219. The town is dominated by a huge paper mill, and is surrounded by high hills on all sides. I think you can see the problem here. The town always smells like a ripe fart.
I nominate Cordele, Georgia, home of the BS speed trap.
What’s the deal with I-4, anyway? That thing has been under construction literally forever. It’s not that long, and it’s not as if they have to stop during the winter. Is it a political scam of some sort*.
*I’m very suspicious of the bidding process for this state. A totally incompetent company has screwed up both the Leroy Selmon (nee Crosstown Expressway) and Clearwater bridge project. Shoddy engineering and possibly shoddy materials. I don’t understand why there haven’t been investigations on how this company won both contracts and why the state hasn’t yet filed suit against them.
The traffic is typical of any college town. All of the roads are 25mph, and they are known for strict enforcement – even in a pouring rain I have seen a fellow standing on the street corner with a radar gun in hand, ready to call the calvary on the walkie-talkie when he clocked someone at 26.
On another occasion, I parked my truck, got out, and started fishing for some coins when a friendly motorist said “He’s writing you a ticket”
I looked over and, sure enough, there was a parking enforcement officer.
I asked the officer why I was getting a ticket…
Officer: “You should have put money in the meter”
Me: “But I just got here.”
Officer: “That doesn’t matter, you still have to pay”
Me: (baffled) “How can you give me a ticket when I just parked two seconds ago and stepped out of my truck to pay the meter. Didn’t you see?”
Officer: (gives me a nasty look as he voids out the ticket)
The rush hour traffic is unpleasant – for a fairly small town, it takes far too long to get from one end to the other. I always go around if possible.
That’s the problem in Alfred too - the speed limit drops to 1/2 of what it was with no warning at all. No reduce speed signs at all… in this state every speed drop of 10 or more MPH is legally required to have a warning sign posted 1000 feet before the speed change. Apparently not so in Maine, since the only reduce speed signs I saw were before traffic lights. I’m sure it’s great for traffic cops looking to write tickets to out-of-staters.
Trunk, you’re right on the money with the Round-a-bout in Towson. It only gets worse with all the holiday shoppers too. I’m going to cast my vote for Rte. 301 in Waldorf. 10 years ago when I lived there this wasn’t a problem. Now there is traffic constantly, I mean where the hell did all these people come from. Bumper to bumper traffic at 10:00 on a sunday night? WTF? I would hate to have to commute there during real peak traffic hours.
Cusseta, GA. Even though you can go through at 55mph, the Cusseta police are always there. Anything over 55 and they stop you.
Newton, GA. The two most annoying 4 way stop signs ever.
280/431 through Columbus, GA and Phenix City, AL. AAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! One billion traffic lights all red all the time.
Smithville, GA. 45mph, then 35mph, then 45 mph and the Smithville cop rides the main road (US 19) all damn day.
Camilla and Pelham, GA. Camilla for two of the most annoying damn traffic lights ever. Pelham for what feels like 10 miles of 45mph with the little cop riding up and down the road all day. At one time Pelham had a sign that said 39mph but the state made em take it down. They put up a 35 mph sign but the state said it had to be 45 mph.
Shibb were you on I75 going through Cordele? The speed limit is 70mph. Just how fast were you going ya leadfoot! Also, are you sure that wasn’t Tifton you were going through? It’s 55mph through there and it’s damn ridiculous. The GHP loves that stretch of road.
Warren, Rhode Island because its downtown is lined with parked cars and that’s not the case in Barrington, one town over, and it always comes as a surprise that you, all of a sudden have so much less room.
I was going about 70, same as everyone else; the cop said I was going 81. Ironically I didn’t see the cop because I was trying to figure out some bizarre sign advertising Tifton as the “turf capitol of the world”. Classic speed trap by the Crisp County constabulary. No proof shown, no way to challenge the ticket except come back to Georgia for court, surly cop, no signs posted that I noticed, and I was definitely looking for signs. He said it was a 60 mph zone. I had to call the county courthouse to find out that the ticket was $278. The only good news is that it thus far hasn’t appeared on my driving record. I don’t think that they own any computers.
Also, are you sure that wasn’t Tifton you were going through? It’s 55mph through there and it’s damn ridiculous. The GHP loves that stretch of road.