Hot Rods Driving a hot rod in Atlanta traffic

With respect, I think your comments are totally out of touch with reality.
The ONLY time Atlanta traffic is close to good is between 3:00 and 4:30 AM. The rest of the day is a disaster.
Chicago runs a close second but they have done some good things so as long as no one stops to look for blood at the scene of a crash, traffic flows pretty well.
Ft. Worth would be OK if all those folks from Dallas would stay home.
I've had the privilege of driving in Miami only once but it was in the middle of the night and wasn't all that bad.
I'm speaking from a few million miles driving truck.

 

I commuted from the North Atlanta suburbs to downtown Atlanta for 16 years. It was brutal. Now I work from home and have to find excuses to drive somewhere. No way I’d ever try it in one of my vintage vehicles. Its like a battlefield on the interstate here.

This thread does make me curious on how many HAMBers hit the highway in their rides without a second thought.

 

Had a friend once tell me that Atlanta truly sucked!!
30 miles south of A-town... traffic is moving nicely at 65-70 MPH. The closer you get to downtown Atlanta it sucks you faster & faster. By the time you are on The Cross Town 'everybody' is going 85/95+ MPH!
Once you're through A-town approx. 20 miles or so......traffic is moving nicely 65-75 MPH again!!
The city truly sucks.
I NEVER....NEVER take the 285 loop around Atlanta. Talla-daggo ain't got noth'in on those clowns!!
Cross Town for the win Alex!
You ain't lived until your hot rod (like mine) looses ALL electrical (including lights and signals) trying to get from the far right lane to the LEFT lane at 5:30 in the afternoon traffic!!
Praise the Lord it was just a fuse!
Had to pay a guy just out on work release(no shit!)... 5 bucks to stop the traffic long enough for me to scoot back into the fray!!
(I still nearly get a panic attack thinking about it)
6sally6
PS Houston's worse BTW!

 

I was in the states with my brother a few years ago and driving around L.A was nerve wracking.
Not only is everyone driving on the wrong side of the road but the traffic was so heavy, we also had to suffer the indignity of being passed by a Prius!
Love a road trip in the states just need to avoid the cities

 

Well everyone has an opinion which is what makes the world go around we also forgot about Washington DC. LA is like a 6 lane city street just stop and go for hours.

 

I retired at the end of 2009 after working for 2 different departments. During that 30 plus years I commuted for almost a third of that time to downtown LA, the San Fernando Valley, and Orange County. It all sucked even without any problems. Through in a wreck, rain, or some idiot threatening to jump off of an overpass and an hour commute turned into 3 or more. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like today.

 

Been driving a travel trailer through Atlanta going south every winter. there’s just no good way to get around that nuthouse. This year I’m taking a western loop and skipping it altogether going south. Staying away from the 285.
Danny there’s no way I’d ever drive an old car through there. Rent a car. It’s safer.

 

I love living in a town that doesn't have a single set of traffic lights.....yet.

 

Being from the middle of nowhere, I'm not very world travelled. I've been to bville through salt lake city and found that easy (was alot younger then too). And more recently (10 yrs ago) went to ohio, via Minneapolis and through Chicago. For me I found Minneapolis traffic was death waiting to happen. Chicago was much more relaxing to drive in until my wife/navigator missed our turn and we ended up in area we did not belong (that wasn't a traffic safety issue though). As I've gotten older I get stressed more easily in heavy traffic.

 

I grew up in a small town, then as an adult moved to Southern California.

Here's the weird thing I've noticed. Back home I'd say aside from the kids, most everybody drove sensibly. It was a small town after all, what's the hurry? But you could almost set your clock by there being an accident at this one particular intersection, EVERY Friday night. There always seemed to be a wreck on the interstate (especially on the straightest stretch, go figure) or down town, or at the shopping center. Just always wrecks. Every where. it was crazy.

I move out here, and in my particular area of SoCal, everybody is in such a damned hurry to get absolutely no where, they drive like turds, "3 on a red" seems to be the norm, but get this. When I leave the house, I rarely see any wrecks. And, upon writing this, I realize I'm jinxing myself.

Out on the 15 or 215 folks are crammed up each others asses, doing 70, eating breakfast, putting on makeup in the mirror, or texting. Of course, if there is one traffic cone anywhere near the freeway, it turns into a parking lot. Same thing for a broken down, or burning down vehicle along the road.

But the contrast is so weird between the amount of crashes I saw there vs. here. I mean, maybe I've just been not paying attention and don't get out as much as I should but there must be a method to the madness.

 

I was working in Marietta, GA (north edge of Atlanta), in 1970 and remember reading in the paper a suggestion by then Governor Lester Maddox that there should be another by-pass around the Atlanta area. I-285, or the Perimeter, as it is called locally, is 64 miles long. The route suggested by Governor Maddox would have been 274 miles long.

 

Yea, I don’t know how you guys that live in areas with traffic like that do it. I am spoiled with a commute to work that is 30 miles each way but almost no traffic and takes less than 30 minutes. I have had to deal with Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, etc. traffic a few times and not sure I could survive it on a regular basis.

 

The most life threating thing I do is the drive to the Atlanta VA hospital. I always ask who thinks sending a bunch of sick old men thru that traffic is a good idea.

 

My wife and I both grew up in Atlanta back in the day. We played on I-285 while it was (2 lanes each way) under construction. Loved growing up there, awesome part of the world but by 1997 it was no longer the town we grew up in. And that was primarily due to the horrendous traffic y’all are talking about. So we moved to Charlotte just to get the hell out of there.
What I have learned to do in my older age is not compete in the race. Twenty or thirty minutes getting anywhere doesn’t mean enough to me to risk life and limb. Let the gladiators have at it!
My daughter and grandkids live in Roswell so I’m driving there regularly just as I have been since 97, most of my family stayed. Words are inadequate for how much driving in Atlanta sucks!

 

In the mid 80’s I moved to the Bay Area for work. Did the bumper to bumper then up to 70mph then down to bumper to bumper again on the freeways. Damn, did that for 25 or so years. Used to talk about drive time growing up in miles. “About 8-10 miles away”. In the Bay Area it was about time. “This time of the day will take about 40 minutes” to go 4 or 5 exits away. Now back to “miles” instead of time. But those rare times I have to venture west into the soul of the devil, I too suck a mound on my seat.

 

Then wonder why their blood pressure is elevated every office visit...

 

I do, to get anywhere around here, highway, Its like playing Mad Max Furry Road all the time... From my house to the southside of Houston is 1hr. That's like driving through some states mind you... 7 million documented people living here, and I see more and more New York and California tags here recently than I have ever seen...

To get to a freeway from my house is 5 to 7 miles... Takes 20 minutes normally to get to one. They are building 2000 homes nearby also along with the other 2k that just went in... So you can only guess that 20 minutes will turn to 30 then 45..

I guess If I had relaxing rides around here, I would drive these things every day... That's my goal to get out of the big city ultimately and find somewhere that had decent healthcare nearby and not much traffic etc. I have quadrupled my home value in 12 years... So will cash out pretty nice or keep it as a rent house.. who knows...

 

Glad I only drive 8 miles to work. All country roads except a couple of blocks once I get to town. Luckily my office is on the outskirts of a town of 12,500 population.

 

I get a laugh when guys brag their old car will "run 65-70 on the highway no problem". In Dallas if you can't do 80 plus the whole drive you'd might as well stay home, or get run over by shit drivers in to big a hurry.

 

We moved to middle Georgia a little over 7 years ago and yes, driving through on I75 or I85 isn’t much fun. On I75 the HOV lane can alleviate some stress. Very late night, very early morning or holidays seem to be the best times to pass through. We do not use 285 to go around! Found it best to go right through downtown. EDIT: I am not sure how y'all learned to drive, but I learned the FASTER traffic is the further lane to the left it goes. NOT here. Seems like people think it's better to be out in the far left lane going slower than everyone else than having to pay more attention in one of the other lanes.

 

I live on Long Island so I'm used to driving to the mainland and dealing with stop and go traffic for miles. In a modern car you just have to deal with it. In a Deuce roadster it's totally different. Some years ago it was impossible to travel on the Belt Parkway because of major construction, so the only other route was the Cross Bronx Expressway. We were on our way home from the Nationals in Louisville and traffic was backed up on the Jersey Turnpike for 10 miles going over the George Washington Bridge. Come to find out that there was an accident on the Cross Bronx and they were routing all traffic thru Manhattan. Took us almost 5 hours to go 40 miles and at every traffic light my wife had to explain to the pedestrians what kind of car it was.

 

When you live in NY you learn What Traffic is,
I moved my Wife & Kid up State to get away From City Living
and Commuted every day for a 1 1\2 hours each way everyday
for 15 years I took the Quickwayt to go to Bear Mountain and
on the Palasaides Interstate Pkwy. which took you to the GW. Bridge
to the Brookner Hwy. to the Triboro Bridge to Astoria Queens.
Everyday, and if that didnot Teach how to Drive in Traffic Nothing would.
When I sold my Business and Learned how to Relax I could Not
Belief that I did that every day for so long!

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

This is exactly the view I saw coming and going! HRP

 

Could any road on Earth be worse than I-95 crossing the George Washington bridge and the Bronx NYC?

 

And that's when its moving !!!

 

Looks just like Mopac in Austin when I drove it ever day. Now live outside Denver in a small town an laugh when the people complain about the traffic

 

We drive thru Atlanta 3-4 times a year to visit family. Its always busy and slow / stopped. Used to be "in" Atlanta but now it extends 20+ miles in either direction. Its always an hour to go 20 miles. Have not found a good way to bypass it if we are going to the Chattanooga area. What we did figure out a few years ago was to use the HOV left lane. Basically we get in the HOV lane as soon as it starts and it will guide you straight thru to the other side of Atlanta without having to worry about missing an exit. It is no faster but does limit some of the a$$ puckering because you just stay in the one lane.

 

My take from this thread is: we are suffering from overpopulation.

 

I always try to go through before noon but after nine and late in the evening but I think that town does not sleep or stay home.

 

Nope. we just need to spread out alittle.