The 5 Most Congested Corridors in the United States

The 5 Most Congested Corridors in the United States: "

The traffic information service INRIX came out with its 2010 congestion scorecard, and it shows the United States is “back on the road to gridlock.” Some of the key findings were that congestion, as measured by travel time, was up nearly 10 percent from 2009, and that traffic rose in 70 regions during the year — with nine achieving record levels.

The report also found that the Los Angeles freeway system earned its reputation; by every measure, L.A.’s congestion exceeded that of any other city in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, or the Netherlands. (And you know that Belgian traffic is killer.) Sure enough, three of the top five most congested corridors in the United States make their home in Los Angeles:

1. I-95 Southbound at the New England Thruway and the Bruckner/Cross Bronx Expressway (New York)


2. Riverside Freeway / CA-91 Eastbound (Los Angeles)


3. San Diego Freeway / I-405 Northbound (Los Angeles)


4. I-90 / I-94 Eastbound at the Kennedy and Dan Ryan Expressways (Chicago)


5. Santa Monica Freeway / I-10 Eastbound (Los Angeles)

Los Angeles holds nearly a quarter of the top 100, with 24 corridors. No surprise, then, that INRIX ranks the metropolitan Los Angeles region atop its metro congestion list. New York, Chicago, Washington, and Dallas round out the top five — a list that squares pretty evenly with the Urban Mobility Report released earlier this year.

New York takes the title for worst bottlenecks, holding five of the top six positions. The very worst occurs at Cross Bronx Expressway Westbound and I-95 Southbound, which averages about 11 miles per hour when clogged. Together New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago account for 19 of the 20 worst bottlenecks in the country — ceding only the 20th spot to San Francisco and its CA-24 Westbound highway. Not until No. 48 does a clog appear outside those four cities, that belonging to a stretch of the Penn Lincoln Parkway / I-376 Eastbound near Pittsburgh.

Of course, drivers who routinely sit in one of these patches of congestion can always console themselves with the understanding that all lists are relative.

Image: Eyeshotpictures

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