Traffic Solutions for Your Commute

Mornings

I-4
- Along Westbound I-4 near 75, volume peaks between 6:15 and 7:45am.  If you drive through this point by 6 o’clock, you’ll be spared some of the gridlock. 
- Heading toward 275, aim to be at 50th Street before 6:15am when volume tops off. Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with almost 20 percent more volume in the next fifteen minutes alone and through 7:15am.

275
-Southbound 275 traffic slows down at Fletcher Avenue between 6:15 and 6:30am.  If you can be here before that, you’ll cruise into downtown with speeds above 50 MPH.
-South of Fletcher, traffic bottlenecks through MLK Boulevard at 6:15am. Again, hit this point before 6:15 and you’ll bypass the heaviest 35% congestion surge.
- Meanwhile, Northbound 275 traffic into the downtown interchange slows at 6:45 am, holding steady then through 8:15am. Here, it’s a good idea to get to Howard/Armenia by 6:30am to dodge the oncoming delays.

75
- Another morning hotspot is I-75 Southbound.  Southbound traffic into Bruce B. Downs Blvd reaches some of its highest volume levels at 6:30am with the lowest speeds recorded through 7:45am.
- Just before I-4, you’re tapping the brakes beginning at 6:45am, so work to get ahead by making your way toward this junction closer to 6:30am.

Veteran’s and Crosstown
Along the Veteran’s and Crosstown Expressways, roadway sensor information is not available.  But we looked at traffic logs from several weeks to develop some general patterns.
- You’ll want to be as far south along the Veteran’s by 6:30am to avoid the steady build-up of brake lights through 9 o’clock.
- Westbound along the Crosstown, the hot-spot is 78th Street at 6:30am, as drivers from the East and the Brandon area make their way in.

Evenings
Wednesday nights, more people stay late at work than any other night during the week.  Therefore, the rush on Wednesday afternoon starts usually at least ½ hour later and subsequently ends anywhere between ½ hour to an hour after the normal peak congestion periods during the remainder of the week, excluding Fridays.  And with everyone trying to get a jumpstart on the weekend, the rush begins and wraps up earlier on Friday than any other day of the week. 

275
- Near Fletcher, traffic along northbound 275 screeches to a halt just before 5:15pm, so plan to get there either before this time or plan your leave time to hit this point after 6:00pm to avoid sitting in the most significant delays.
- Southbound 275 stacks up early as drivers make their way toward the Veteran’s and the Howard Frankland typically between 4:30 and 5:00pm.  The slow merge onto the Veteran’s particularly halts traffic generally thru 6:30pm. 

I-4
If you are heading east along I-4, the heaviest delays through 50th Street generally occur between 4:45pm and 5:30.  Again, if you can plan your night around that knowledge you won’t sit in the virtual parking lot of this notoriously sluggish zone.

I-75
- If you are traveling northbound along I-75 through Bruce B. Downs on your way home, patience is a good virtue to have.  This was a hard one to pinpoint the specific time when traffic peaks, because we see a very steady and building rush from 4:30 – 5:30pm here.  But good news, if you can stay late at the office one night, you will avoid some of the delays if you make sure not to drive through this point before 6:15.
- Drivers who make their way out along the SB lanes of I-75 approaching the 1-4 Junction must factor in delays occurring along I-4 as well as the existing congestion on I-75.  Generally 4:00pm is the hot zone here, so if you don’t have to cross through this point during the brunt of the delays you will be partially spared from the sluggish gridlock.

Veteran’s
With all of the construction, the on-ramp from 275 to the Veteran’s is a virtual parking lot beginning sometime between 4:30 and 5:00pm.  After that, the headlights begin once again approaching Hillsborough Avenue through past Anderson Road until at least 6:30pm.