Roads You Hate To Drive On

[Aditus]

EVERY road between here and Cologne from 7 am until 9 am.

[Zombie]

The Fosse Way. It's an old Roman road. The Romans hated going round things so their roads are very straight - which means they go up and down a lot, which means lots of brows and hidden dips. Not so good on a single carriageway with overtaking drivers determined to cash in their life insurance policies before they get to their destination ...

[TetRefine]

Another one I hate is the Taconic Parkway, that runs from about Albany to just a little north of New York City. Not only is it horribly maintained and very narrow for a 2-land highway, but driving when its dusk, dark, or dawn is dangerous because there are so many deer along the road that you are liable to cream one going 65 mph and get into a nasty wreck. One time driving around 4am on there, I counted seeing about 40 deer in a 20 minute timespan. 

[davewri]

Driving from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria, California thru the 154 mountain pass.  Old people in their motorhomes driving on a winding, narrow mountain road at half the speed limit.  Young rich kids driving their daddy's expensive sports cars at twice the speed limit.  Cops around every bend trying to boost the budget by writing a lot of tickets.  And it's one of the most beautiful, scenic drives in America.

[Sympathia]

Sounds like the cops have a reason to be there

[FrenchCanadian]

Well, we got potholes just about everywhere in town, so it's not that fun to drive around... If it not potholes, it's construction/detour causing even more traffic.... add this to the numerous one ways and interdiction to turn left or right at many streets, you need to know where you're going and have your route in advance....

[methodwriter85]

   The 10 US Cities With the Worst Commutes

 

    Average amount of hours people spend in stalled traffic every year :

 

1. Washington, D.C. - 67

 

2. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Santa Ana - 61

 

3. San Francisco-Oakland - 61

 

4. New York City/Newark - 59

 

5. Boston - 53

 

6. Houston - 52

 

7. Atlanta - 51

 

8. Chicago - 51

 

9. Philadelphia - 48

 

10. Seattle - 48

[Trebs]

I agree with Dark on the 405 but thankfully I live in NorCal.  Up here are two of note for me:

 

Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz (which in the mid-80's was renamed to be an extension of the 880).  So windy and turning through those mountains - you see tons of skid marks going UP the middle embankment.  A local ice cream shop in Santa Cruz used to sell a chocolate, marshmellow and almond ice cream named Highway 17 (ie, Rocky Road for those that don't like ice cream).

 

The other road - um, I only have a problem with it in one direction.  I-50 between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe, especially the Placerville to Stateline section.  But going there, it's great, beautiful and though a little stressful, not too bad.  But then take that same road on the way back, the stress is still there BUT you are also LEAVING one of the most beautiful places and (for me) likely sleep deprived due to too many hours of losing at gambling.

 

 

PS Ashi - thanks for your entry.  I grew up in Fairfield and hit the Maze often, but for some reason, always just thought of the tollbridge to the bridge part as the "Maze" - with 30 lanes dropping quickly to 5.  Didn't realize the whole area had the name...

[Mark Arbour]

I agree with Dark on the 405 but thankfully I live in NorCal.  Up here are two of note for me:

 

Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz (which in the mid-80's was renamed to be an extension of the 880).  So windy and turning through those mountains - you see tons of skid marks going UP the middle embankment.  A local ice cream shop in Santa Cruz used to sell a chocolate, marshmellow and almond ice cream named Highway 17 (ie, Rocky Road for those that don't like ice cream).

 

The other road - um, I only have a problem with it in one direction.  I-50 between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe, especially the Placerville to Stateline section.  But going there, it's great, beautiful and though a little stressful, not too bad.  But then take that same road on the way back, the stress is still there BUT you are also LEAVING one of the most beautiful places and (for me) likely sleep deprived due to too many hours of losing at gambling.

 

 

PS Ashi - thanks for your entry.  I grew up in Fairfield and hit the Maze often, but for some reason, always just thought of the tollbridge to the bridge part as the "Maze" - with 30 lanes dropping quickly to 5.  Didn't realize the whole area had the name...

 

I LOVE both of those roads, but especially Highway 17.  In my younger days, I could damn near make that run to Santa Cruz from Los Gatos blindfolded (OK, that may be an exaggeration, but you get the point).  All those curves are a total rush if you have a hot car. 

[Guest Con]

I'm reasonably certain that downtown Halifax was designed by someone with deeply sadistic tendencies.  Our population isn't that high, but the combination of several five-way stops, a dozen one way streets and various streets that don't connect to the next for no discernible reason, trying to drive to work is an absolute nightmare unless I leave 2 hours early, no matter what route I take.