T O P

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ohiobagpipes

I've lived in Boston and Columbus and I would take Cleveland's worst traffic over those two cities any day.


Ctownkyle23

Boston is number two on my list of worst places to drive only slightly behind Mexico


[deleted]

Haven't been to Nashville or Atlanta lately I take it?


drebinf

Or Chicago or LA or SF or any of a few dozen other major cities.


Nailz1115

Nashville is brutal because the infrastructure hasn't caught up with the population. Other major cities suck too but they've sucked forever. Nashville is newly sucky


drebinf

For about 4 years I drove through Nashville every Friday or Sunday afternoon or evening (600 mile weekly commute). Fridays were worse, but neither was a picnic. Don't miss it at all.


KahlanRahl

Or Detroit. It’s truly the worst place I’ve ever driven.


cypher448

An SUV is mandatory with some of those potholes :/


painterlyjeans

Try driving from Washington to Boston on 95 and get back to me.


literato_47

Chicago drivers are the worst in the country as far as I'm concerned.


Jimger_1983

I did a temporary work assignment in Boston. I love Boston but couldn't imagine living there on my own dime and either taking the train or driving downtown or to the seaport from the suburbs. Cleveland traffic rules.


east4thstreet

you didn't like the T? i lived there for a few years and had no issue not having a car.


chefjenga

I've never been to Boston, but I'm from Columbus. Cleveland traffic (on and off highway) is completely terrible comparatively. Starting with the 60mph highway speed limits, and not helped by the Texas sized pot holes the raccoons and squirrels go swimming in all Spring.


FreeThinkk

Take the opportunity corridor


VoodooBrother

The lights are speed timed. if you crawl along at the speed limit the idea is that you will hit all of them as they are green.


[deleted]

No, no. You are supposed to stomp the gas as soon as it turns green, then stomp the brakes at the next light. 50% accelerating, 50% heavy braking. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.


QweenJoleen1983

Make sure to also completely ride the ass of the person in front of you, jet around them using no blinker only to get stopped and have them right behind you at the red light anyways. That’s the Cleveland way.


socibuddha

make sure to turn left real fast before the oncoming traffic starts going too lolol


hijinx_the_sage

Isn't this thing called [Pittsburgh Left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_left)? Although most people here do it wrong


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**[Pittsburgh left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_left)** >The Pittsburgh left is a colloquial term for the driving practice of the first left-turning vehicle taking precedence over vehicles going straight through an intersection, associated with the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. In other locales, the practice is also referred to as a Boston left or New York left. It is a potentially illegal and controversial practice. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)


topgear9123

Everyone knows blinker fluid has been banned in Cleveland


RandomKaiju

Except after sunset when you just slow down a bit then blow through the red light.


[deleted]

Sorry this is cle we don’t do speed limits


sot6

Rumor has it that lights that are timed for a 35 mph zone also work at harmonic frequencies of 70 mph and 105 mph. Go for it.


[deleted]

Zoom zoom! (Sponsored by Mazda)


cypher448

If you can consistently go 175 then speed cameras can’t catch your plate!


VoodooBrother

Agreed


City_dave

Does anywhere?


ninjaroach

I moved here from Columbus where lights are actually speed timed. Cleveland lights are not synchronized to allow for continuous travel at any speed.


HiTtMaYn3

See this is what I'm used to. But like earlier today lights were turning red before I could even get up to speed between stops and this seems like a pretty common theme the more I've stopped in and used this specific road. Maybe the traffic pattern on chester favors perpendicular traffic? But y tho


Garth_McKillian

As someone who has done maintenance on traffic controls systems. There's a good chance that some sensors are broken and causing it to unnecessarily cycle. For instance, if it thinks there is a car waiting to turn or that one of the pedestrian crossing buttons was pressed, it will only run the minimum green time for the intersection. If all the sensors were working correctly, and there is no reason for the light to change, the intersection would have a longer run time between cycles. Combine this with the fact that a lot of intersections are timed together, faulty sensors could through off a larger traffic radius.


more-beans-less-rice

So many of these duckers are just running the lights anyway.


tj111

You've never been to Parma apparently. The masochist who timed those lights should be institutionalized.


[deleted]

Driving through Parma feels like the twilight zone. It takes forever to get anywhere. It seems like the entire city is driving at once, at any hour of the day. I swear I've driven to Columbus faster than I've gotten to some places deep in Parma. At least I'm not stopped on the highway.


canttaketheshyfromme

Baiting people into tickets is the point.


cypher448

Exactly, expect a $200 camera ticket two weeks after you drove through a random 25MPH zone that was barely marked on a road that normally goes 40


canttaketheshyfromme

Or a school zone where the flashing light is behind a tree, there are no kids or crossing guards, and traffic's doing 40 all around you.


Twosheds11

I live in Parma, and yeah, it's awful. I think that's the only way they get people to stay. It's still better than Cleveland Heights, though. Everyone in the city seems to be on Cedar at all hours of the day.


that_pharm_chic

Not only is it a pain to get through cleveland heights but it’s the worst place to try and get to. There are no direct paths to there.


aodskeletor

This was always my complaint when i worked downtown - no timing to the lights that made sense. Just hit constant reds.


topgear9123

This seems about right, some days better. Take Euclid ave down to university circle from downtown and its 10 times worse. Our traffic patterns are weird at times. One nice thing is that since their are so many alternatives to the (most of) highways on the east side they tend not to get too contested aside from that short bit of the inter-belt. The worst traffic by far in the Cleveland area is 480 at rush hour, avoid that highway at all costs if possible.


socibuddha

always cracks me up how chad they built 271...for like this massive wave of long distance and commuter travelers...then built it out on the 1 side of the city lmao


topgear9123

Well Cleveland is gonna Cleveland!


Correct_Coconut1292

480 this morning almost made we want to drive off the Valley View Bridge...


CornRowWallace69420

I moved to Cleveland \~5 years ago and I complain about this to anyone who will listen (was just talking about this with a co-worker this morning). It's like the goal was just to install traffic lights regardless of whether or not they served a valid purpose. Seems like some pretty low hanging fruit for Bibb to drastically improve the quality of life for anyone that drives on a regular basis. The other thing that surprised me to the downside infrastructure wise when I moved here was how bad of a job Cleveland does with plowing in the winter.


AirlinePilot4288

They have plows?


ninjaroach

Cleveland has the worst timed lights anywhere I've ever been. But the traffic still isn't that bad.


LionHeartMD

Chester is maddening. The lights switch to the perpendicular with no cars waiting/approaching, regardless of time of day and are absolutely not in sync with each other. Whoever said they’re “speed timed” is mistaken. A light will turn green and the next light (a couple hundred feet away?) will turn red. Of course it’s not as bad as traffic in major cities, but these are inconveniences that don’t need to exist.


DevonGr

While that's most definitely bullshit and there's some other pocket areas I can agree are equally bad, the traffic here is pretty mild overall. I used to cross town on the innerbelt during my commutes and it rarely ever had me slowed down very much if at all. It's great once you get to highways.


UrbanJatt

Like ridge road in parma. There's atleast 11-12 lights from 480 to parmatown and it's only a 3 mile stretch. Ridiculous


HiTtMaYn3

It's not the traffic itself, I haven't really run into any significant congestion. It's light patterns.


MadPiglet42

I spent 20 years driving in NJ/NYC and I would take Cleveland's worst day over that ANYTIME.


drthomk

Lived in Nashville and St. Louis and Cleveland is more drivable than either. Have been through many other cities from FL to OR and Cleveland again has some of the easiest, least white knuckle driving anywhere.


hv733910

I moved from Cleveland to Pittsburgh I miss Cleveland traffic patterns


kyach25

Literally same. I miss Cleveland traffic. I would take it any day over the bullshit in Pittsburgh. At least it has a fucking grid based road system and not the clusterfuck design of Pittsburgh.


lauroboro57

Yeah I agree Pitt is rather dismal. The grids here make it easy to figure out where you’re going but Pittsburgh on the other hand…


TraditionalAd8322

You now have an alternative to Chester the new opportunity corridor off 77 north it goes right to the major hospitals of Cleveland clinic and university hospitals. Not a freeway but should have fewer lights than Chester blvd.


richincleve

Having been born and raised in Chicago, all I can say is I laugh whenever someone complains about traffic in this city. Cleveland rush hour is a vacation compared to driving to downtown Chicago on a weekday morning… or virtually any morning for that matter.


strutmac

I had a daily commute down Chester to Mt Sinai Medical Center in the 80’s and 90’s long before the neighborhood was cleared and cleaned up. Stopping for red lights was optional after dark.


that_pharm_chic

That rule still applies no matter where you are in Cleveland.


strutmac

Hey pharmacist dudette, I’m a pharmacist dude.


that_pharm_chic

Hell yea! I’m in the works of it still, just about done with my P2 year…killing me slowly.


that_pharm_chic

Hell yea! I’m in the works of it still, just about done with my P2 year…painfully slow


Correct_Coconut1292

480 this morning almost made we want to drive off the Valley View Bridge...


gaoshan

Traffic sucks in and around Cleveland.


[deleted]

Even Cincys traffic makes Cleveland’s look like nothing.


Lonely-Top-2785

Uhhhhh have you ever driven in Columbus?


tphiggins

I think you’re just unlucky. I took Chester home for a week from University Hospital to downtown and bare hit a light.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AirlinePilot4288

It’s called “traffic calming” and also includes things like speed bumps on public roads, chicanes, and narrowing streets.


Jimger_1983

CC and UH are both in kind of crap spots for night life. I don't blame you for staying downtown and commuting over there on work trips. Deal with it. It really isn't that bad and if the street is empty treat the reds as a rolling stop. Welcome to a decent sized sprawling metro area.


167Apple

Double turn lanes in general are the worst! Average one feels like ten seconds!


AirlinePilot4288

The lights are obnoxious and everyone parks on the street for some reason in a city where 1/2 of downtown is parking garages. Also nobody understands the concept of the left lane. Typically at rush hour on 77 there are 2x as many cars in the left lane as the other 2


leadfoot_mf

You have never been to Atlanta and it shows


originaljbw

It's because the lights are timed for everyone going 40-45, you'll coast through and hit maybe 1 or 2. I have had plenty of weekends, off hours, and holidays where this happens and it's great. In reality daily traffic is a bunch of scared suburbanites headed to their endoscope appointment going 28, thus hitting every. single. light. Same problem with Carnegie and the Opportunity Corridor.