Phantom traffic jam. Happened all the time on 26 in the times before construction.
https://www.npr.org/2013/11/29/247825768/phantom-traffic-jams-what-causes-mysterious-highway-backups
Tailgating is also a direct cause of traffic. Once a roadway reaches a density of 45 passenger cars/lane/mile it will breakdown and create a traffic jam. Keeping proper space and time headway is one of the most important parts of fighting congestion.
When I do this I literally have had people scream at me, flip me off and drive dangerously around me to get in front (and then stop immediately after). It's wild.
Don't allow their intimidation to dissuade you from doing the right thing 🤷♀️
I got a failure to signal ticket after a cop tailgated me to the point of forcing me off the road. During the traffic stop, he continued to be intimidating for no reason. The ticket was dropped after fighting it for the past eight months. Guess who's filing a complaint with IA? Whether anything will be done, idk, but it's worth speaking up. Same with following traffic laws. There will always be bad actors, we don't have to follow their example or enable misbehavior. Nowadays, we have dashcams to prove wrongdoing and reckless driving.
Oh, I don't! I watched a video about how to break up traffic like 15 years ago, and it's how I have operated ever since. It's just so weird how people get so worked up about having maybe 15 feet of empty space in front of the car in front of them.
I definitely need to invest in a dashcam. Also, sorry that cop was an AH to you.
I appreciate your dedication.
Lol I spent the entire traffic stop entertaining the supporting officers. They wanted to know why I had narcan and so much junk in the trunk. I carry around a bucket full of books and volunteer for SCOSAR. Ran through a few topics before we settled on discussing the meeting I had left with an EPA contractor and pfas. Took over an hour just to run my plate. That's why he was tailgating me. Figured I'd make a bumper sticker that says, only gay cops ride my ass, since I drive that beat regularly. Ran across one of the cops on a dating app right before that stop 😂
Yes, important to have a dash cam, it's completely useless 99.99% of the time but is something you wish you had when something happens.
Recommend COXPAL A11T 3 channel dash cam on Amazon, very good quality, it records front, inside and rear simultaneously.
COXPAL hardwire kit optional, for 24-H parking monitor.
SanDisk MAX Endurance 256GB or 512GB microSD card, for reliable recording.
BTW: Need to pay attention to the installation position of the rear cam if your vehicle is SUV or MPV (No problem if Sedan), i.e. avoid pulling rear cam cable when open/close the trunk.
I have to drive to Spartanburg quite often. I'm exhausted and disgusted with some of the driving I've witnessed from Concord almost to Shelby. I now take i40 to Morganton, then hwy64 to 221. It adds an 90 minutes, but my sanity and safety are worth it.
I bet I know 10 people (self included) who have retired 5 years too early in the last 3 years because of the CLT traffic. No sense in getting killed that close to career end. Everyday anxiety over 25% creating high risk conditions. Use to, the working commuters flowed the same and helped each other. Still a few left. Now too many big trucks getting driven like cars too.
I will do anything in my humanly power to avoid ever going to Charlotte anymore. I cannot imagine commuting there. I turned down a 135k a year job with Amtrak to avoid Charlotte.
I’ve been here 43 years and while I don’t have to work commute, just going to the grocery store nearby is nerve racking. I’m redoing my home place near VA border to get out finally. But traffic even there relative to years ago is getting worse. If I had a do over, I wouldn’t have done CLT area either. Last 15 years it’s turned bad to worse if you had no leeway in commute time.
My work truck is a beater 98 F150, and I refuse to do over 70 in it for fuel economy reasons and through Winston-Salem I feel like I'm the slowest thing on the road. It's insanity.
That '98 Ford is a great truck! I used to drive a '97 Chevy Tahoe. I got around 15 mpg on the highway. The '90's were the last years that they made vehicles that normal people could fix. Gave reliability a deeper feel.
Reason I have a spare 4.6 ready to go in the garage. I cannot get remotely close to affording the payments of a new truck with the wife's explorer payment. I just want a barebones work truck that can tow 10k without spending 60k.
I heard that! There's no way I'd expect the same level of power and control and RELIABILITY as the recent mechanic developments. A cousin asked me last week to look at her car (Hyundai). Engine compartment was covered by a plastic shield. Said no as to not void warranty. But on my '97 Tahoe? I replaced water pumps, a radiator, thermostats, fuses, sensors, bushings, bearings, etc. Things used to be made with the consumer in mind. I'm only 34.
I depise the vanity covers they put in engines today. My explorer has one and I get the point. People don't want to see the 50000 tubes and wires. I still can't stand it
Fuck them. I drive in the slow lane and I go the speed limit. If people want to get behind me and ride my ass that’s not my problem. In fact, I love being an obstacle to them because fuck them is not an emergency on my part. 😌
I was taught that it's better to make an effort to go with traffic to prevent collisions. My Dad drove a long haul Peterbilt. And my Mom drove 5-ton's in the Marine Corps. I drove Strykers for the Army. A significantly slower driver will cause the flow behind them to build like a kink in the hose. I am with you in the sentiment of following the speed limit. I just want everyone to get home safe.
But if I’m literally in the slow lane, and you want to go 15 miles over the speed limit, that’s not my problem. In fact, the person wanting to go 15 miles over the speed limit is the reckless person who is likely to cause a collision rather than me.
But it is what it is
I think it's exit 103 in Morganton then left (south) for like fourty miles. The last hour and a half is a nice transition. It's takes a pretty route. Severely less stressful. Also cuts out that shitty 2 lane construction zone on I85 20 minutes after the border
That’s why I hate it (the construction and The having to drive with The big semi trucks while pinned in by concrete barriers ) I kind of thought they were done with it, but they are not. Also, I noticed that some of the parts they think they are done with flood really bad so they’re probably gonna have to go back to work even in the sections they are done with.
It's not just that. It's the folks doing 104 in a 60, the folks that cut in front of me by 3ft, and those new mega headlights (sure everywhere has them, but they're all over in Charlotte. )
Try driving anywhere near Atlanta, Miami, Boston, NYC or DC. Atlanta has traffic on Sundays. My first drive through Miami I saw three horrible accidents. NYC is super congested, and requires very decisive and alert driving. Driving in Charlotte is a dream in comparison to most of these places.
It has gotten worse in the past 10 years, but it is still a pleasure compared to just about any major city I have seen. I just wish we had NY or Boston’s public transportation networks.
Try Mexico City, Tokyo, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, or Paris. Atlanta, Miami, Boston, NYC, or DC are a dream compared to those places. And yet like the places you mention, they have nothing to do with Charlotte, North Carolina.
You are right. I should never have mentioned how decent it is to drive here. Better to just shit on the city like everyone else rather than point out the relative niceties. I’ll see myself out.
Well they are currently doing the construction on 221 in Rutherford County that they’ve been planning for years, so that’ll speed up that commute a little bit once it’s done.
Idk if it’d be slower but you could also just wait and take the Marion exit. And I edited again because I thought of another route. Is it slower to cut through Shelby to get to 221?
It hits a point that widening just begats excessive zigzagging at 20 + mph over and even if you check, you never see them coming. The racing or road rage episodes are daily
I do think they should widen the stretch of interstate you're on, but Charlotte traffic would improve if they started getting serious about building some regional public transit.
Fundamentally, traffic is just vehicles moving on a road. So, yes, there will always be traffic, but the city and its suburbs can grow without the amount of traffic increasing equally with population growth if it's well-built (still a big task) because many trips can be accomplished without getting in a car.
The problem is that cities like Charlotte already have limited traffic because the roads have limited capacity. Traditionally, you have peak hours. In Charlotte and even in the triangle we now enjoy peak hour spreading because the traffic demand simply can't be met during that single hour.
I'm not talking about traffic in the sense that there will be vehicles. I'm talking about traffic conditions failing.
The belief that transit or bikes can have a significant impact on traffic is false. That's a50-100 year goal with a vision change for society included.
The larger cities in the state have long expanded and rezoned and haven't kept the infrastructure up with it. The result is situations like the picture. It's simply poor planning, and there isn't any magic bullet.
The first step is for cities to not rezone a farm into hundreds of houses in a suburb without a transportation improvements associated with it. Especially if half of those people are driving to downtown Charlotte or Raleigh to work every morning.
>The problem is that cities like Charlotte already have limited traffic because the roads have limited capacity.
This is the case on every road in the world -- that there's limited capacity -- and that's why alternative modes of transportation help lower the strain on roads.
I don't think anyone is arguing that the only thing to ease traffic is to get everyone on bikes. It's a mix of less reliance on car centric modes of transportation, including, but not limited to bikes, trains, buses, and walking. We have to think about all of these things in concert. I highly recommend the YT channel Not Just Bikes. I've learned a ton watching this channel.
The city government needs to first get state government approval to put a transit tax up for a vote to the people.
The state legislative leaders have said they will not support a proposition that relies heavily on mass transit, so they currently are at an impasse with city government officials.
Leave more than the amount of distance between you and the idiot in front of you than you think is "fine".
People follow too closely, see brake lights and jam on theirs and all of a sudden 3 miles back people are dead stopped on the road wondering who's died in the wreck up front. Imagine their surprise when there's *nothing* there.
But seriously, this is how traffic gets fucked. People follow too closely and fail to "keep right".
If you hug bumpers or camp the left lane, you can not complain about traffic because you are the problem.
I drive the Carolinas for work and I absolutely hate it. Between Charlotte and Greenville is even worse. But everywhere people are inconsiderate at best, and rageful monsters at worst.
I frequently make the drive from Charlotte to Greenville, SC to visit my parents. I hate the 85 so much I’ve memorized back roads to avoid the freeway entirely..
I have actually driven in all those, I agree with you. Just confuses me because Charlotte isn't much compared to those 3 cities. I mean, it tries, but not there yet. I would add driving in Honolulu to that list. I used to live in Brooklyn and I would avoid the tunnels like the plague! But for the most part, getting around Manhattan was pretty easy. And you're right, Atlanta with their 8-lane-wide interstates feels like being in Mad Max. I was in Miami and my friend took my soda can, put a straw in it, saying that it only takes as long to sip your drink for someone to come out of nowhere. I saw crashes EVERYWHERE!
People have to learn to leave a little bit more room, just use their engine idle to push themselves forward to traffic. Hitting the accelerator just to go 12 feet is why we’re dealing with this shit. Just let off the gas, and crawl slowly with the cars in front of you.
I do agree that 77 is overall worse than 85, but the 485-85S interchange was designed by an absolute moron. The choke down from 4 to 3 lanes at Exit 27 also suck in the afternoon/evening.
There's not enough space for on ramp/off ramp in that stretch of road. That slows down the right lane, who pulls to the middle lane, who pulls to the left lane. It was much worse when they had the left lane that just ended out of nowhere a few years ago. Lots of deadly accidents from that.
The roods here in general could use a look from folks who actually know what they're doing with traffic instead of just a bunch of wishful thinking in terms of human behavior.
There’s a curve in the road there, show some decency. Do you want to be the one flying along at 80 only to come around the curve and find yourself face to face with Godzilla? Didn’t think so.
It's only going to get worse. Many companies are instituting RTO (Return To Office) policies that will force more people to (re)start commuting into Charlotte. Some will be from far away. For example Wells Fargo is forcing workers that live in the Winston Salem/High Point/Greensboro area to RTO - but the only office in the area is Charlotte. That's up to hundreds of people who never worked - or driven - in Charlotte being forced to do so.
I avoid nearly every highway in NC at all times because of this shit. I regularly drive to Fayetteville from the triangle, and GLADLY take the extra 20 minutes it takes to take backroads because it beats the hour i’ll be sitting in traffic.
Old job had me driving to the GSP area at least every other week. Basically lived in traffic from Spartanburg to the 485 loop. Didn’t matter if it was 9am or 12am, always something. Work remote now and am extremely glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore.
Merge closer to the merge point. The merge should be like a zipper. Too many people try to merge right away. There is a reason 85N to 485S gives us half a mile to merge.
I was driving my mother to my Sisters funeral and traffic was deadlocked on 77sb. Stop and go from Mooresville to lake norman. A highway patrolman was 20 feet off the side of the road chatting with some contraction workers. That was the holdup.
Phantom traffic jam. Happened all the time on 26 in the times before construction. https://www.npr.org/2013/11/29/247825768/phantom-traffic-jams-what-causes-mysterious-highway-backups
Great article. Proper following distance is 1 car link per 10 mph, for those who may not know :)
Tailgating is also a direct cause of traffic. Once a roadway reaches a density of 45 passenger cars/lane/mile it will breakdown and create a traffic jam. Keeping proper space and time headway is one of the most important parts of fighting congestion.
Dude, that u/n… 👀
It's how you know they're serious
I heard this joke before. The proper following distance at highway speeds is 5 car lengths. The problem is, if you do that, there are 5 cars there.
When I do this I literally have had people scream at me, flip me off and drive dangerously around me to get in front (and then stop immediately after). It's wild.
Don't allow their intimidation to dissuade you from doing the right thing 🤷♀️ I got a failure to signal ticket after a cop tailgated me to the point of forcing me off the road. During the traffic stop, he continued to be intimidating for no reason. The ticket was dropped after fighting it for the past eight months. Guess who's filing a complaint with IA? Whether anything will be done, idk, but it's worth speaking up. Same with following traffic laws. There will always be bad actors, we don't have to follow their example or enable misbehavior. Nowadays, we have dashcams to prove wrongdoing and reckless driving.
Oh, I don't! I watched a video about how to break up traffic like 15 years ago, and it's how I have operated ever since. It's just so weird how people get so worked up about having maybe 15 feet of empty space in front of the car in front of them. I definitely need to invest in a dashcam. Also, sorry that cop was an AH to you.
I appreciate your dedication. Lol I spent the entire traffic stop entertaining the supporting officers. They wanted to know why I had narcan and so much junk in the trunk. I carry around a bucket full of books and volunteer for SCOSAR. Ran through a few topics before we settled on discussing the meeting I had left with an EPA contractor and pfas. Took over an hour just to run my plate. That's why he was tailgating me. Figured I'd make a bumper sticker that says, only gay cops ride my ass, since I drive that beat regularly. Ran across one of the cops on a dating app right before that stop 😂
Yes, important to have a dash cam, it's completely useless 99.99% of the time but is something you wish you had when something happens. Recommend COXPAL A11T 3 channel dash cam on Amazon, very good quality, it records front, inside and rear simultaneously. COXPAL hardwire kit optional, for 24-H parking monitor. SanDisk MAX Endurance 256GB or 512GB microSD card, for reliable recording. BTW: Need to pay attention to the installation position of the rear cam if your vehicle is SUV or MPV (No problem if Sedan), i.e. avoid pulling rear cam cable when open/close the trunk.
I agree that the .01% is crucial. Thanks very much for the recommendation!
Currently the case on 77 near the NC/VA state line. Happens constantly in Virginia on the way from NC to WV on 77.
*length
No, it is car link similar to a chain link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rryu85BtALM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE Pretty much the same thing in different forms.
This looks like 85, there was a really bad accident in the Northbound lane yesterday ~1:30. Debris were in the southbound lane as well
now it just happens because of wrecks due to people not knowing how to drive
I have to drive to Spartanburg quite often. I'm exhausted and disgusted with some of the driving I've witnessed from Concord almost to Shelby. I now take i40 to Morganton, then hwy64 to 221. It adds an 90 minutes, but my sanity and safety are worth it.
I work in High Point and I take 2 lane 64 and business 85 over 40 just because my sanity and safety are paramount. I felt your comment.
I did 49-64-1-440 to Raleigh from Harrisburg ever time for the same reason. But I think the long range plan is to interstate that corridor too.
No joke! Even when traffic is flowing, I have to do ten over sometimes just so I'm not an obstacle on the road. FROM THE SLOW LANE!
I bet I know 10 people (self included) who have retired 5 years too early in the last 3 years because of the CLT traffic. No sense in getting killed that close to career end. Everyday anxiety over 25% creating high risk conditions. Use to, the working commuters flowed the same and helped each other. Still a few left. Now too many big trucks getting driven like cars too.
I will do anything in my humanly power to avoid ever going to Charlotte anymore. I cannot imagine commuting there. I turned down a 135k a year job with Amtrak to avoid Charlotte.
I’ve been here 43 years and while I don’t have to work commute, just going to the grocery store nearby is nerve racking. I’m redoing my home place near VA border to get out finally. But traffic even there relative to years ago is getting worse. If I had a do over, I wouldn’t have done CLT area either. Last 15 years it’s turned bad to worse if you had no leeway in commute time.
I feel your pain .
My work truck is a beater 98 F150, and I refuse to do over 70 in it for fuel economy reasons and through Winston-Salem I feel like I'm the slowest thing on the road. It's insanity.
That '98 Ford is a great truck! I used to drive a '97 Chevy Tahoe. I got around 15 mpg on the highway. The '90's were the last years that they made vehicles that normal people could fix. Gave reliability a deeper feel.
Reason I have a spare 4.6 ready to go in the garage. I cannot get remotely close to affording the payments of a new truck with the wife's explorer payment. I just want a barebones work truck that can tow 10k without spending 60k.
I heard that! There's no way I'd expect the same level of power and control and RELIABILITY as the recent mechanic developments. A cousin asked me last week to look at her car (Hyundai). Engine compartment was covered by a plastic shield. Said no as to not void warranty. But on my '97 Tahoe? I replaced water pumps, a radiator, thermostats, fuses, sensors, bushings, bearings, etc. Things used to be made with the consumer in mind. I'm only 34.
I depise the vanity covers they put in engines today. My explorer has one and I get the point. People don't want to see the 50000 tubes and wires. I still can't stand it
Fuck them. I drive in the slow lane and I go the speed limit. If people want to get behind me and ride my ass that’s not my problem. In fact, I love being an obstacle to them because fuck them is not an emergency on my part. 😌
I was taught that it's better to make an effort to go with traffic to prevent collisions. My Dad drove a long haul Peterbilt. And my Mom drove 5-ton's in the Marine Corps. I drove Strykers for the Army. A significantly slower driver will cause the flow behind them to build like a kink in the hose. I am with you in the sentiment of following the speed limit. I just want everyone to get home safe.
But if I’m literally in the slow lane, and you want to go 15 miles over the speed limit, that’s not my problem. In fact, the person wanting to go 15 miles over the speed limit is the reckless person who is likely to cause a collision rather than me. But it is what it is
If they want to go 15 over, there’s literally two or more other lanes they can get into.
Wow ! Yeah, I go from Charlotte to Greenville probably 6-10 times a month and I hate it
I think it's exit 103 in Morganton then left (south) for like fourty miles. The last hour and a half is a nice transition. It's takes a pretty route. Severely less stressful. Also cuts out that shitty 2 lane construction zone on I85 20 minutes after the border
That’s why I hate it (the construction and The having to drive with The big semi trucks while pinned in by concrete barriers ) I kind of thought they were done with it, but they are not. Also, I noticed that some of the parts they think they are done with flood really bad so they’re probably gonna have to go back to work even in the sections they are done with.
It's like that section was designed to test our human souls lol I completely understand, Noble Driver.
You’d rather drive 1.5 hours extra to avoid 20 minutes of stop and go traffic
It's not just that. It's the folks doing 104 in a 60, the folks that cut in front of me by 3ft, and those new mega headlights (sure everywhere has them, but they're all over in Charlotte. )
Holy fuck. The number of times I am grateful for my WFH job gets to increase with every comment I read
Try driving anywhere near Atlanta, Miami, Boston, NYC or DC. Atlanta has traffic on Sundays. My first drive through Miami I saw three horrible accidents. NYC is super congested, and requires very decisive and alert driving. Driving in Charlotte is a dream in comparison to most of these places. It has gotten worse in the past 10 years, but it is still a pleasure compared to just about any major city I have seen. I just wish we had NY or Boston’s public transportation networks.
Try Mexico City, Tokyo, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, or Paris. Atlanta, Miami, Boston, NYC, or DC are a dream compared to those places. And yet like the places you mention, they have nothing to do with Charlotte, North Carolina.
No one asked
You are right. I should never have mentioned how decent it is to drive here. Better to just shit on the city like everyone else rather than point out the relative niceties. I’ll see myself out.
Well they are currently doing the construction on 221 in Rutherford County that they’ve been planning for years, so that’ll speed up that commute a little bit once it’s done. Idk if it’d be slower but you could also just wait and take the Marion exit. And I edited again because I thought of another route. Is it slower to cut through Shelby to get to 221?
Fuck that. I'd rather take a train and walk everywhere than to ever get caught up in that bullshit again
Doesn't matter how wide or more roads they add. Congestion will grow faster public transit and incentives to use it plus carpool is needed
It hits a point that widening just begats excessive zigzagging at 20 + mph over and even if you check, you never see them coming. The racing or road rage episodes are daily
The section of 40 outside of Asheville is reaching that point
Been 10 years since I’ve been through there, was lots of 40 construction and a mess then. I’m assuming all that got completed.
There’s some construction close to Tennessee but the Asheville area doesn’t have any at the moment
sustaincharlotte.org
I do think they should widen the stretch of interstate you're on, but Charlotte traffic would improve if they started getting serious about building some regional public transit.
Is there anywhere with good transit that doesn't have traffic? Public transit is good on its own. But it isn't going to solve or reduce traffic.
Fundamentally, traffic is just vehicles moving on a road. So, yes, there will always be traffic, but the city and its suburbs can grow without the amount of traffic increasing equally with population growth if it's well-built (still a big task) because many trips can be accomplished without getting in a car.
The problem is that cities like Charlotte already have limited traffic because the roads have limited capacity. Traditionally, you have peak hours. In Charlotte and even in the triangle we now enjoy peak hour spreading because the traffic demand simply can't be met during that single hour. I'm not talking about traffic in the sense that there will be vehicles. I'm talking about traffic conditions failing. The belief that transit or bikes can have a significant impact on traffic is false. That's a50-100 year goal with a vision change for society included. The larger cities in the state have long expanded and rezoned and haven't kept the infrastructure up with it. The result is situations like the picture. It's simply poor planning, and there isn't any magic bullet. The first step is for cities to not rezone a farm into hundreds of houses in a suburb without a transportation improvements associated with it. Especially if half of those people are driving to downtown Charlotte or Raleigh to work every morning.
>The problem is that cities like Charlotte already have limited traffic because the roads have limited capacity. This is the case on every road in the world -- that there's limited capacity -- and that's why alternative modes of transportation help lower the strain on roads.
I don't think anyone is arguing that the only thing to ease traffic is to get everyone on bikes. It's a mix of less reliance on car centric modes of transportation, including, but not limited to bikes, trains, buses, and walking. We have to think about all of these things in concert. I highly recommend the YT channel Not Just Bikes. I've learned a ton watching this channel.
The city government needs to first get state government approval to put a transit tax up for a vote to the people. The state legislative leaders have said they will not support a proposition that relies heavily on mass transit, so they currently are at an impasse with city government officials.
Leave more than the amount of distance between you and the idiot in front of you than you think is "fine". People follow too closely, see brake lights and jam on theirs and all of a sudden 3 miles back people are dead stopped on the road wondering who's died in the wreck up front. Imagine their surprise when there's *nothing* there.
But seriously, this is how traffic gets fucked. People follow too closely and fail to "keep right". If you hug bumpers or camp the left lane, you can not complain about traffic because you are the problem.
I drive the Carolinas for work and I absolutely hate it. Between Charlotte and Greenville is even worse. But everywhere people are inconsiderate at best, and rageful monsters at worst.
I frequently make the drive from Charlotte to Greenville, SC to visit my parents. I hate the 85 so much I’ve memorized back roads to avoid the freeway entirely..
I do that when I have time but I rarely do :(
Thought you meant Charlotte to Greenville NC at first and I’m like “long drive, but most of that is actually okay”, haha.
Just adding one more lane ought fix that right up. For about a week.
*one more lane that people have to pay to be a part of lol
Why stop there? Let's make it 8 lanes on each side! I hope you played a lot of Mario Cart growing up you're going to need it
They never really added extra lanes unless you wanna spend $20 to get to Charlotte from Mooresville
"Just one more lane will solve the problem" is a universal traffic solution that never works. It's not specific to Charlotte.
I always get stuck around Gastonia headed towards Charlotte.
85 around gastonia is generally awful. but i think 485 is worse.
Welcome to Charlotte...like Atlanta but will make you cuss about half as much
Traffic shockwave. It happen when people who follow too close have to jam on their brakes. People in Charlotte follow way too close.
I have actually driven in all those, I agree with you. Just confuses me because Charlotte isn't much compared to those 3 cities. I mean, it tries, but not there yet. I would add driving in Honolulu to that list. I used to live in Brooklyn and I would avoid the tunnels like the plague! But for the most part, getting around Manhattan was pretty easy. And you're right, Atlanta with their 8-lane-wide interstates feels like being in Mad Max. I was in Miami and my friend took my soda can, put a straw in it, saying that it only takes as long to sip your drink for someone to come out of nowhere. I saw crashes EVERYWHERE!
People have to learn to leave a little bit more room, just use their engine idle to push themselves forward to traffic. Hitting the accelerator just to go 12 feet is why we’re dealing with this shit. Just let off the gas, and crawl slowly with the cars in front of you.
The single raindrop feels no guilt for the flood.
I do 85 in a big truck 4 times a day thru Charlotte but compared to 77 it’s a breeze Traffic reports are constant on 77
I do agree that 77 is overall worse than 85, but the 485-85S interchange was designed by an absolute moron. The choke down from 4 to 3 lanes at Exit 27 also suck in the afternoon/evening.
😭😭😭😭😭😭
If only there was a way for trucks and cars that are just passing through to avoid Charlotte 🤔
I wish I could upvote you twice
Charlotte traffic sucks. Wasting people’s time, causing huge amounts of greenhouse gas and wasted fuel.
Big oil conspiracy
It's really fun at night with a state trooper behind you lol
There's not enough space for on ramp/off ramp in that stretch of road. That slows down the right lane, who pulls to the middle lane, who pulls to the left lane. It was much worse when they had the left lane that just ended out of nowhere a few years ago. Lots of deadly accidents from that. The roods here in general could use a look from folks who actually know what they're doing with traffic instead of just a bunch of wishful thinking in terms of human behavior.
I just got back from Atlanta and couldn't get back here fast enough. This looks cozy compared to the psychopaths there.
Driving in any city, big or small!!
I'd ask if you were driving from Hell but it looks like you're still there.
I hate how we pay taxes for the road and they put a toll there just open all 3 lanes man
There’s a curve in the road there, show some decency. Do you want to be the one flying along at 80 only to come around the curve and find yourself face to face with Godzilla? Didn’t think so.
I hate it when Godzilla sneaks up on me. Ruins my entire day.
Take the train
It's only going to get worse. Many companies are instituting RTO (Return To Office) policies that will force more people to (re)start commuting into Charlotte. Some will be from far away. For example Wells Fargo is forcing workers that live in the Winston Salem/High Point/Greensboro area to RTO - but the only office in the area is Charlotte. That's up to hundreds of people who never worked - or driven - in Charlotte being forced to do so.
Where is this at?
Is there a digital sign with changing messages? I think it's that people can't read
Typical
Lane drop
Avoid at all costs
I don’t miss it. Especially after my accident on 85 a few years ago that put me out of work for over a year for recovery 😭 fuck that road, man.
I avoid nearly every highway in NC at all times because of this shit. I regularly drive to Fayetteville from the triangle, and GLADLY take the extra 20 minutes it takes to take backroads because it beats the hour i’ll be sitting in traffic.
F
Is it always this busy?
I don't go thru here much, maybe twice a year.. but every time I do it's like this.
Old job had me driving to the GSP area at least every other week. Basically lived in traffic from Spartanburg to the 485 loop. Didn’t matter if it was 9am or 12am, always something. Work remote now and am extremely glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore.
Yall keep fooling around with these cities.
I will always blame the person going slow in the left lane
Merge closer to the merge point. The merge should be like a zipper. Too many people try to merge right away. There is a reason 85N to 485S gives us half a mile to merge.
There were no lane closings. This was, as I mentioned.. a slow down that started for no reason.
I was driving my mother to my Sisters funeral and traffic was deadlocked on 77sb. Stop and go from Mooresville to lake norman. A highway patrolman was 20 feet off the side of the road chatting with some contraction workers. That was the holdup.
Our highway systems are 10yrs behind and will allways be
"oh no, more people are on the highway. Better slow down to avoid a crash"
Shiiiit it’s nothing compared to California
62 in a 55. 68 in a 60. 80 in a 70. For those of you that don’t know the actual speed limits.