| Share
 

America's 24 Worst Highway Bottlenecks

RankCityFreewayLocationVehicles
per day
Annual
hours of
delay
(in thousands)
1.Los AngelesUS-101US-101 (Ventura Fwy) at I-405 Interchange318,00027,144
2.HoustonI-610I-610 at I-10 Interchange (West)295,00025,181
3.ChicagoI-90I-90/94 at I-290 Interchange (“Circle Interchange”)293,67125,068
4.PhoenixI-10I-10 at SR-51/SR-202 Interchange (“Mini-Stack”)280,80022,805
5.Los AngelesI-405I-405 (San Diego Fwy) at I-10 Interchange296,00022,792
6.AtlantaI-75I-75 at I-85 Interchange259,12821,045
7.Washington (DC-Md.-Va.)I-495I-495 at I-270 Interchange243,42519,429
8.Los AngelesI-10I-10 (Santa Monica Fwy) at I-5 Interchange318,50018,606
9.Los AngelesI-405I-405 (San Diego Fwy) at I-605 Interchange318,00018,606
10.AtlantaI-285I-285 at I-85 Interchange (“Spaghetti Junction”)266,00017,072
11.ChicagoI-94I-94 (Dan Ryan Expwy) at I-90 Skyway Split (Southside)260,40316,713
12.PhoenixI-17I-17 (Black Canyon Fwy) at I-10 Interchange (the “Stack”) to Cactus Rd.208,00016,310
13.Los AngelesI-5I-5 (Santa Ana Fwy) at SR-22/SR-57 Interchange (“Orange Crush”)308,00016,304
14.ProvidenceI-95I-95 at I-195 Interchange256,00015,340
15.Washington (DC-Md.-Va.)I-495I-495 at I-95 Interchange185,12515,035
16.TampaI-275I-275 at I-4 Interchange (“Malfunction Junction”)201,50014,371
17.AtlantaI-285I-285 at I-75 Interchange239,19314,333
18.SeattleI-5I-5 at I-90 Interchange301,11214,306
19.ChicagoI-290I-290 (Eisenhower Expwy) Between Exits 17b and 23a200,44114,009
20.HoustonI-45I-45 (Gulf Freeway) at US-59 Interchange250,29913,944
21.San JoseUS-101US-101 at I-880 Interchange244,00012,249
22.Las VegasUS-95US-95 at I-15 Interchange (“Spaghetti Bowl”)190,60011,152
23.San DiegoI-805I-805 at I-15 Interchange238,00010,992
24.CincinnatiI-75I-75, from Ohio River Bridge to I-71 Interchange136,01310,088
NOTE: Rankings are based on analysis of 2002 data. Readers may note that none of the worst bottlenecks are in the New York City area. Congestion in and around the boroughs of New York can be significant. However, a very large share of delay in the New York area is related to bridge and tunnel crossings into Manhattan, most of which are toll facilities. Also, while the New York metropolitan area is laced with Interstates, parkways, and expressways, they seldom reach the proportions seen in other major areas, except where multiple highways converge on bridge of tunnel crossings. (A typical lane configuration for a New York area freeway is six lanes, three in each direction. But there are many of these.) Toll facilities have been excluded from this ranking because they are fundamentally different from other physical bottlenecks (such as freeway-to-freeway interchanges) that are prevalent around the country. Delay comparisons between toll facilities and other types of bottlenecks might not be consistent since different modeling techniques would be used. If objective field measurements of delay could be made at all locations around the country, several river crossings into Manhattan would no doubt be included in a list of the nation’s worst bottlenecks.
Source: American Highway Users Alliance, Unclogging America’s Arteries, 1999–2004. Web: www.highways.org .

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Major Causes of Traffic Congestion in the U.S.TransportationU.S. Driving Fatalities, Total and Alcohol-Related

Premium Partner Content
HighBeam Research

Related content from HighBeam Research on: America's 24 Worst Highway Bottlenecks

Additional search results provided by HighBeam Research, LLC. © Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.

24 X 7

Private Tutor

Click Here for Details
24 x 7 Tutor Availability
Unlimited Online Tutoring
1-on-1 Tutoring