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Driving around Oro Valley, and the area between La Cholla and Oracle in NW Tucson, I notice traffic seems light. I have also noted this on roads in and around the Foothills, and in East Tucson. I can't tell about the UofA area, but I guess that, too, is not very busy. Today reminded me of driving in Alamogordo, NM, with virtually no on one the road ahead of me or behind, and me going 10 miles under the limit while I look at the mountains.

So, I guess it is like this because everyone is away for the summer and returns to snowbird. How bad will it be? Right now is rather nice, Flagstaff in the middle of a work week in July nice, NAU is out, people aren't on the street and weekend tourists aren't up. I expect this won't last.

Oro Valley could really stand some depopulation. I can't think of anywhere in AZ that I dislike driving through more.

Well, it was nice today!

big_load wrote:I can't think of anywhere in AZ that I dislike driving through more.

i can. it's called Phoenix

@fricknaley
I dunno. Globe and Prescott Valley are pretty high on my list too.

As for greater Tucson, it's summer. There are a lot of people who disappear for a while (or are only here in the winter anyway).

The weekend the dorms open at the U of A is when things start to get busy again. Used to work at a bike shop in Tucson and the week students move into town was our busiest week of the year. Take advantage of the light traffic. Nothing worse than driving in the bumper to bumper traffic in Tucson to get across town. Takes me 90 minutes to get to Tucson, but 45 minutes to drive across town to get to my parent's house on the east side of town. Luckily they just moved, it only takes me 25 minutes now to get to their house once I hit the Tucson city limits.

Because Tucsonans resisted having a cross-town freeway, River Road and other roads were widened instead. River Road used to be a lot of fun. No more.

I used to like Prescott, but any more it's just another busy, over-built town. I really don't care for it any more. I went there yesterday and also went there last week.

fricknaley wrote:

big_load wrote:I can't think of anywhere in AZ that I dislike driving through more.

i can. it's called Phoenix

Phoenix isn't paradise, but I find it much less frustrating than Oro Valley. Either one beats the heck out of DC.

Try commuting thru a section of highway nicknamed No Man"s land in CT. :roll: I had a 12 mile commute and it averaged an hour or more. Now in Phoenix 17 miles and it takes be 20-25 mins

We do get a little spoiled commuting around Arizona. Spent a little time living in the mid-Atlantic area and had to drive into Philly, Baltimore, DC and northern New Jersey on a fairly regular basis for work. Remember planning a trip right after I relocated from Arizona to head into Wilmington DE and seeing it was a 80 mile trip. So I gave myself two hours thinking that I had at least a 30 minute buffer. Ended up taking a little over 3 hours.

SpiderLegs wrote:We do get a little spoiled commuting around Arizona. Spent a little time living in the mid-Atlantic area and had to drive into Philly, Baltimore, DC and northern New Jersey on a fairly regular basis for work. Remember planning a trip right after I relocated from Arizona to head into Wilmington DE and seeing it was a 80 mile trip. So I gave myself two hours thinking that I had at least a 30 minute buffer. Ended up taking a little over 3 hours.

fricknaley wrote:

big_load wrote:I can't think of anywhere in AZ that I dislike driving through more.

i can. it's called Phoenix

Wow, listen to this guy. plz: Joe, about time to do some member clean up?

Tucson needs a freeway going from somewhere around Ina to Tanque Verde, 6 lanes, divided, controlled access, speed limit over 55, but probably around 55 to 65, and obviously no lights. That time is passed, and Tucson is, as Liz says, "the good things aren't getting better, but the bad things are getting worse". The good things are status quo, the traffic, and other things, get worse each year.

Jim_H wrote:Tucson needs a freeway going from somewhere around Ina to Tanque Verde, 6 lanes, divided, controlled access, speed limit over 55, but probably around 55 to 65, and obviously no lights. That time is passed, and Tucson is, as Liz says, "the good things aren't getting better, but the bad things are getting worse". The good things are status quo, the traffic, and other things, get worse each year.

I don't know what would help, but traffic seems worse in Tucson than I'd expect for a town of its size. There are many worse, but not in AZ. At least the afternoon rush doesn't last for six hours, like it does around here.

Tucson Rush hour used to be fun and exciting... center turn lanes converted to one way thru lanes, going different directions based on the time of day... traffic lights set to allow for non-stop east west driving. Of course the nick name was suicide lanes given the tendency for hapless tourist to not quite get the twice daily switch... thinking they could still do left turns (prohibited during rush hours). It was an interesting concept; you could move cross town faster during rush hour than any other time of day... and then again, you could also encounter bizarre head on clashes...

those were the good old days!

imike wrote:Tucson Rush hour used to be fun and exciting... center turn lanes converted to one way thru lanes, going different directions based on the time of day... traffic lights set to allow for non-stop east west driving. Of course the nick name was suicide lanes given the tendency for hapless tourist to not quite get the twice daily switch... thinking they could still do left turns (prohibited during rush hours). It was an interesting concept; you could move cross town faster during rush hour than any other time of day... and then again, you could also encounter bizarre head on clashes...

those were the good old days!

Used to work on 6th Street and watch the guys pick up the cones in the morning and put them down in the afternoon to change the direction of the lane.

To give Tucson credit, they had a few limited access roads that were basically car free other than the residents of the street that were designated bike corridors. It took me almost the same amount of time to ride my bike home from work or the U of A than it did to drive through rush hour.

You have not experienced anything yet until you drive U.S. 60 past the Renaissance Festival on these dates in 2015.
Saturdays and Sundays February 7 - March 29. Be sure to take your lunch with you and an Excedrin or two!

@SuperstitionGuy
Very few things in life do I detest more than that damn festival and the traffic it creates, during the best time of year for hiking in some of the areas that road leads to. :tt: :yuck:

I still think the loop road idea was missed. It didn't even need to be a full loop, just a large wide east-west highway, probably in the north side of town. Maybe just south of River Road/ the wash would have been good. Tucson is definitely a town that never seemed to have a plan and just sort of happened. I don't want to live in Phoenix and think it is too big, I find Tucson a bit large, and miss my last 3 small to medium towns, but Phoenix does have a good loop highway system.

big_load wrote:Oro Valley could really stand some depopulation. I can't think of anywhere in AZ that I dislike driving through more.

I-8?

I drive through Florence and Oro Valley just to avoid the living hell that is that interstate ...