Boston traffic

"deekster_caddy" (deekster_caddy)
06/26/2014 at 16:22 • Filed to: Traffic sucks

This is pretty typical of Boston traffic lately. The 'hub and spoke' based public transportation with nothing connecting the spokes besides one overused highway is pretty much useless to anyone. I really think an outer ring train would make a huge difference to this mess. It takes me well over 40 minutes to get home - 12 miles - on a typical day. Worse if it rains or there is an accident. I work and live within a mile of Rt 95, I would absolutely use a train if there were one going in the right direction. One that just uses the middle lanes of 95 and has a stop near each exit would totally rock.

BTW It's not 5:00 yet, so the green and yellow places just haven't gotten congested yet. That will all change in about 1/2 hour.
Thanks for listening to me vent! Here's a nice Buick for your reward!

DISCUSSION (15)

For Sweden > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 16:25

Living in Boston, why?

BoulderZ > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 16:29

Wow, I've always heard Boston traffic can be world-class bad, but that picture kind of highlights it. Is it just a capacity/volume thing all the time, or is it especially bad in the summer with seasonal residents?

deekster_caddy > For Sweden
06/26/2014 at 16:29

Near Boston, not in Boston (all depends what the conversation is)... lots of good tech jobs, born and raised here, 4 very solid seasons, no floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, great school systems, close enough to ski mountains in the winter and great beaches in the summer.

For Sweden > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 16:31

4 very solid seasons

As someone who is intimately familiar with winter, this is a horrible reason to live somewhere. Winter is meant to be visited, not lived in.

deekster_caddy > BoulderZ
06/26/2014 at 16:32

It actually lightens up a bit in the summer (lots of schools in the area, just in general), especially the mornings but with the exception of Friday afternoons - a lot of people go to northern new england or cape cod on Friday afternoons, and these roads are all locked up. This is actually a pretty average day.

deekster_caddy > For Sweden
06/26/2014 at 16:33

It's only three months long. I love snow.

cazzyodo > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 16:37

I have the luxury of a 3 mile commute right now...but am looking for new places to live and it will likely just be miserable.

Yeah, I'm around Boston, too.

deekster_caddy > cazzyodo
06/26/2014 at 16:39

All I can say is, the closer you can live to where you work, the better. And I know many people who drive more than 40 miles each way - I can't imagine it.

I know one guy (programmer) who turned down several good jobs because of the commute - kept searching (he was employed but unhappy) until he found something much closer to home.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 16:55

I live in Medford and work in Cambridge. My drive to work is 40 minutes...my bike ride to work is about 30. It's a no-brainer.

deekster_caddy > Aaron M - MasoFiST
06/26/2014 at 17:02

I live in Reading. Used to work on Concord Ave in Cambridge, just inside Alewife. I could get from Reading to near Alewife in about 20 minutes (by car), and it would take another 20-30 min to get across Mass Ave and the Alewife bridge to work.

Now I work in Bedford - number of miles really didn't change at all, or the number of minutes! But neither way has "safe" bike routes. I rode my bike to Cambridge a couple of times, not bad but a little too far to do daily. I have driven every side road from the Bedford/Lexington area and I don't see any way to do it safely during commuting hours. I would love a bike path just outside the breakdown lane of 128 (I mean 95).

ZDMW > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 17:07

I feel your pain brother. To add to the congestion the road conditions are beyond terrible. I have honestly driven on dirt roads that are significantly smoother than the ones on my commute. While driving in the metro-Boston area I have to make a choice between looking up and being a safe driver to not kill pedestrians and cyclists, or paying attention to the road to not destroy the car.

At least currently my commute is very short (4 miles), it's actually quicker for me to bike to work.

Carl (@stuffcarlsays) > deekster_caddy
06/26/2014 at 18:55

You can thank Governor Sargent for putting a stop to all highway development inside 128 back in '72. This is why Route 3 basically dead-ends in Burlington and shunts you onto surface roads through Arlington, why there are all sorts of unused bridges at Cutler Circle (Route 60) in Revere as I-95 was supposed to cut right through Peabody and Lynn, why Melina Cass Blvd. in Southie is as wide as a highway, etc. etc. There was supposed to be an inner-belt highway known as I-695 that tied all these roads together through Cambridge, Somerville, Back Bay and Southie - that road was canceled due to the moratorium as well. It's debatable whether or not this completed highway system as envisioned in 1965 would have been a success, but one thing is for sure - Boston traffic sucks.

http://www.brorson.com/maps/BostonHig…

Kinja'd!!!

deekster_caddy > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
06/26/2014 at 21:09

wow those roads would be awesome! For traffic anyway. If he was trying to protect property values it worked. Sort of.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > deekster_caddy
06/27/2014 at 08:46

I'm guessing you mostly take 62 when you drive...my ex lived in North Reading and 93 and 95 were always painful. I've actually biked 62 through Bedford, Concord and Sudbury...but yeah, once you split off from Great Road in Bedford and head towards Burlington it becomes a lot less safe. My father actually still bikes his commute (occasionally) into Burlington, so there do exist ways around the Middlesex Turnpike death trap.

deekster_caddy > Aaron M - MasoFiST
06/27/2014 at 09:49

62 seems like it would be good on a bike... until 5:00. Then it looks like it would really suck. Probably great on a weekend. I ocassionally drive 62 but it backs up so much getting through Burlington and Wilmington it's not really worth it. I've found ducking down into Woburn and staying south of 95 makes for the fastest trip.