Traffic changes (Day by Day)
Riffing off of Charlie’s last post, does anyone else notice changes in traffic around here that seem to be seasonal?
My commute home always seems to get worse in the winter, specifically right after we turn the clocks back. Is this because people have a harder time driving in the dark? Tonight was frickin’ horrible. I-35 southbound is consistently backed up onto 183 eastbound now and tonight, even 183 was a parking lot at the same point. There was also an accident on Ben White, so my trick of going down the service road to Airport and then going Montopolis to Riverside to Pleasant Valley to Oltorf wasn’t as effective as usual.
Traffic is definitely lighter in the summer, mostly due to the absence of UT-related traffic, I assume. It used to be even more pronounced when I moved here in the late ’80s. I’ve also noticed that the traffic gets progressively worse as the week goes on in the summer. On Mondays, I can frequently zoom down I-35 without much of a slowdown, but by Friday, it’s stop and go most of the way. None of the days during the summer can touch what I’ve been going through for the last couple of weeks. Perhaps I can telecommute a few days a week? Please?
Well, certainly today had an added bonus of holiday traffic but yes, I agree with you. I also cannot believe the amount of people that leave work at 4 or 4:30! I’m the only that’s supposed to be sneaking out of the office that early. Dang it!
Working near 360 and MoPac (S) allows me to witness first-hand the joy of [insert swirling organ cue] … holiday mall traffic. It’s a pretty linear function, with traffic backing up further and further in direct correlation to the lateness of the holiday season. By December 20th, it’s the Bataan Death March on wheels just to get to MoPac.