Traffic Woes: Perception vs Reality

fsujax · February 29, 2012, 01:21:17 PM

after commuting in Atlanta for four years, traffic here isnt too bad. It is all relative and what you are used to. I would Clay County folks have it the worst in our region.

mtraininjax · February 29, 2012, 10:28:24 PM

QuoteYeah it is not how bad it is now, but how bad it will be when you add 500K or 1 Mil as with Orlando and Tampa.

As we hit 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 dollar a gallon gas, we will not have to worry about that problem. Thanks to Obama's energy program and the Federal Reserve. It will be cost prohibitive to go anywhere.

Garden guy · February 29, 2012, 10:45:21 PM

Quote from: mtraininjax on February 29, 2012, 10:28:24 PM
QuoteYeah it is not how bad it is now, but how bad it will be when you add 500K or 1 Mil as with Orlando and Tampa.

As we hit 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 dollar a gallon gas, we will not have to worry about that problem. Thanks to Obama's energy program and the Federal Reserve. It will be cost prohibitive to go anywhere.

OMG you republicans will blame him for your own farts...it's so old and makes you look like and idiot.

mtraininjax · February 29, 2012, 10:50:54 PM

QuoteOMG you republicans will blame him for your own farts...it's so old and makes you look like and idiot.

And he continues to blame BUSH for everything, at least he is consistent! LOL!

Know Growth · February 29, 2012, 10:53:31 PM

Love the FTU Editorial some time ago......we only experience Woes at certain Peak Time Periods,outside that....great!!!!! (message-grow grow grow)

Not making this up....not that one would post Original here

KG/NM....and who knows who else......

David · March 01, 2012, 12:45:02 AM

^ That's pretty much why it's been wearing on me lately, because I travel at mainly peak times now. Before I was "above it all" with my odd hour'd jobs.

BTW the original post was tipped off from the native inferiority complex us Jacksonvillians are so well known for by a co-worker in Dallas. I was mentioning how it's a pain to get to work lately and he quipped "Jacksonville has traffic?" I wanted to be like "yeah, yeah we got traffic! We're big city too!"

My first driving memories are of 295/95 in Mandarin being some po-dunk interchange and 9A being the St Johns Bluff exit off JTB that two cars were turning off of. That's how long it's been since i've lived out this way. The historic district keeps you sheltered!

thelakelander · March 01, 2012, 06:25:40 AM

Yes, we have traffic and its very comparable with most metropolitan areas of similar size. Like any other community, we have pockets that are worse than they have to be. It's not on the level of a place like Atlanta, Miami, or Dallas but we aren't on the level of those places. They are five times larger. Even metro Tampa and Orlando are twice as large.

Our true peers are second tier communities of similar size like Louisville, Memphis, Salt Lake City, and Nashville. However, where we really suffer is not having viable alternative mobility choices and a land use pattern that does us a disservice in an economic climate where people value time not spent driving.

David · December 14, 2012, 09:55:22 AM

It has been a year and 6 months since my exile from the Urban Core, banished to the auto-centric burbs in the name of love.

Although on the good days our interstates and freeways move along at a respectable pace during peak hours, it's the constant wrecks that are making my commute times shoot up beyond 30 minutes. Sat in traffic for 50 minutes crawling from the 95 N to 295 W flyover last week to drive 3 miles. 45 minutes on JTB to Southside to go 2 miles last night.

And don't forget about the ice cream truck flipping over on 295 a few days ago. 2+ hour commutes for those coming in from OP to the Southside.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-12-10/story/blue-bell-ice-cream-truck-flipped-after-crash-i-295-fhp-lists-critical

The southside is getting crowded and the wrecks do seem to to be on the rise. Maybe once everyone's commute starts crawling up towards an hour because everyone's snarled in traffic daily some other form of transportation will take hold.

Maybe.

thelakelander · December 14, 2012, 10:02:48 AM

Driving on Southside arterials in this town blows big time. It's simply unpredictable. If there's no wreck and it's a clear sunny day, everything is smooth sailing. If it rains or there's a crash, you're screwed because every alternative path takes you miles out of the direction you're traveling in, if you haven't already made it past the point of no return.

David · December 14, 2012, 10:23:09 AM

That's exactly why I had a fit yesterday. I had a choice to make when leaving work to get to Arlington. Belfort to Hogan to Southside to the expressway, or JTB to southside.

I said "nah, it can't be that bad @ 6:30 pm. So I turned on JTB and came to a grinding halt and just sat there for 45 minutes. It was one of those situations where people start driving on the shoulder or median to get out of traffic.

Although I haven't seen people driving the wrong way on the interstate on ramps yet to escape traffic. I've only seen that in Atlanta.

This is pretty much why everyone sticks to their side of town. When I lived in Riverside, I never thought of going anywhere past San Marco and only put 7,000 miles a year on my car. Ahh, the good old days!

tufsu1 · December 14, 2012, 10:24:25 AM

overturned truck @ Kernan...they closed JTB

fsujax · December 14, 2012, 10:26:59 AM

All it takes is one incident to disrupt the flow of traffic and cause gridlock. The overtunred ice-cream truck, last nights accident are good examples. Without any other reliable means of getting around the city we are pretty much stuck.

David · October 14, 2015, 08:08:18 AM

Resurrecting this 3 year old thread, but mainly to clarify. After dealing with suburban rush hour traffic for 3 years you find ways to adapt.

In Summary: A 22 mile one way commute relying solely on the interstates at rush hour alone just isn't a good idea, at least not without checking google traffic maps first. Backroads, alternative routes and driving off peak hours is how I've managed to keep my sanity. It was quite a rude awakening compared to living in Riverside/San Marco because you know...I heard Jax didn't REALLY have traffic.

We do, it's just not Atlanta bad yet. 295 from Orange Park through Mandarin & out towards the Town Center and up 95 into downtown can be almost as bad as anywhere. 30 minutes to go 5-10 miles and the frequency of wrecks causing delays is astounding some weeks. My commute easily tops an hour quite often.

When 795 opens up, i'm sure it'll help a little bit but all the development planned in St. Johns county seems like it'll overload it sooner than later. Maybe the express lanes on 295 will help somewhat, at least for those just passing through.

Not complaining just making an observation...The price to pay for a growing city right? (and living in the 'burbs) Although at one point the rush hour commutes were getting on my nerves so bad I thought about taking the bus into work, the Mandarin/Downtown express (route 200) but biking 2-3 miles and relying on a JTA bus to have an open spot on the bike rack just wasn't feasible for reliably getting to work sans car.

thelakelander · October 14, 2015, 09:33:01 AM

It took me about 45 minutes to get to downtown from JTB this morning. There was an accident on 95, so I took Philips. There was also an accident on Philips, so at that point, I was out of luck. I get to experience it all again in another hour or so. I've drawn the unlucky straw of having to work a half day in Central Florida.

David · October 14, 2015, 10:08:58 AM

Haha oh no Lake, I guess I can't complain about my 44 mile roundtrip commute then! You have a...200+ mile commute today it sounds like.

I meant to capture a screenshot of I-95 on google traffic maps this morning. Dark red all the way from downtown to the Old St Aug exit. 4 + wrecks on it. It seems there's always bad wreck at least 2 days out of the 5 day work week.