Traffic is dumb
About three weeks ago, I moved from Waldo to Downtown, adding about 10 miles to my commute to my employer near College and Roe in Beigeville. I’ve never really faced horrible traffic in my life before. In St Louis, A-B was right down 44 on a reverse commute, and from Waldo I never went over 35 miles per hour, enjoying a good chuckle as I took Roe over 435 and saw all the poor saps sitting, staring at their shadows to the west.
But now.
I take 71 because I-35 is a mess and the people who drive on it are total [insert negative adjective here]. 71 is pretty relaxed, with a 55 mph speedlimit and a few stoplights. Most folks on there are regulars who know you have to take it easy. Minimal frustrations…dare I say calming.
Once you hit the Grandview Triangle and get on 435 W (towards Kansas!), it usually goes to hell. 5 or 6 traffic-filled lanes going west at 10 miles an hour, then slowly speeding up to about 40 until my exit at Roe (yay), and then it slows back down to around 5 until you get past 69 and I35. Why does everyone have to drive to Overland Park? There’s a problem, people. And if you think the answer is more lanes, well, it didn’t work last time–you’re sitting there now, in the new ones, stopped.
I’ve been trying to ride my bike (from Downtown) to work a few days a week for a few reasons, one of which is that it would take one car off the road making someone else’s commute in a car easier. (It will also, hopefully, allow my intake of Bully! Porter to remain steady).
Yes, yes, I know: “Kansas City doesn’t HAVE any traffic” when compared to other cities. But most other cities have options. I have two: car and bike. I’m looking to add carpooling. Basically, KC has few options, and to most that involves a car.
Traffic is dumb. It needs to be smarter.
4 Responses to “Traffic is dumb”
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Natalie
Said this at 11:23am:Oh yes, the almightly highway. Who was it that started our wonderful highway system in the US? Eisenhower comes to mind but I could be wrong. KC’s spawl and dependence on the all-American motor vehicle is thanks largely in part to all those highways: I-70, I-435, I-35, etc. I-435, that massive loop, I think it is 84 miles total around the city. Whoever decided to put that thing so far out can be thanked for urban sprawl, the declining public schools, urban blight, global warming, just to name a few *minor* effects.
My grandparents will often recall the days when you took the trolley downtown to shop. It wasn’t always cars, cars, everywhere.
I don’t have to say it… but KC’s traffic problem is nothing compared to those monster cities of Chicago, LA, San Fran, Seattle, etc. I complain a lot about Portland traffic but yes, Jeff you are right, if there is anything all of these big cities and Portland have in common it is options: bike lanes, comprehensive public transit (light rail, buses, and other options), enough urban dwellers who walk, established carpool networks, and those nice HOV lanes.
I am looking forward to moving into the city so I can shed the dependence on those highways and spend more time living and less time in traffic.
Matt
Said this at 8:07pm:I don’t see why you go to the Grandview triangle. If you dislike the highway so much (which you should), why not just enjoy the peaceful drive through JoCo side streets (via SW Blvd, SW Tfwy, or any other range of options to get started)? It’s a much more fulfilling drive, even if you might be able to find a marginally more efficient route on a highway. I was never happier during my work day than the drive to and from work via Somerset.
And yes, KC has no traffic….
bahua
Said this at 9:55pm:From the mouth of a former KCMO resident/JoCo employee: 35, even though it’s horrible, frustrating, and slow, is unequicovally the fastest way from downtown/midtown to Kansasia. I tried tons of different routes, and every time, the travel time and miles driven were both higher than the I-35 route. 71? I did it. It’s slower. Ward Parkway/SW Trfwy? I did it. It’s slower. 435 to 70(KCK)? I did it. It’s slower.
It sucks, but 35 is the fastest. At least to Olathe.
Jeff
Said this at 4:33am:35 turns to mud around 65th, a couple miles before I would get off on to 69. And there’s construction on 435 under Antioch (new bridge). That’s why I’m doing 71.