The U.S. Department of Transportation rates the worst highway bottlenecks in America each year, and notes to no one’s amazement that traffic congestion almost everywhere is getting worse, not better.

The report on the Dirty Dozen also says that today we can drop the term “rush HOUR.” The average amount of time people spend stuck in traffic per year has grown from 16 hours in 1982 to 47 hours in 2003, that’s more than an entire work week spent staring at traffic and listening to ... whatever on the radio.

In many cities, the window in which commuters likely will find congestion, has grown from 4.7 to 7.1 hours a day. Check out the Department of Transportation table below, with special attention to No. 16, but do note that things _ thanks to ongoing state Department of Transportation construction on our own special place _ are getting better and will soon be much better _ until, thanks to unchecked growth, we overload it once again.

The Worst Bottlenecks in the United States:

Rank
City
Intersection (“cute nickname”)
Annual Hours of Delay (in thousands)

1. Los Angeles
U.S. 101 (Ventura Freeway) at I-405 Interchange
27,144

2. Houston
I-610 at I-10 Interchange (West)
25,181

3. Chicago
I-90/94 at I-290 Interchange (“Circle Interchange”)
25,068

4. Phoenix
I-10 at SR 51/SR 202 Interchange (“Mini-Stack”)
22,805

5. Los Angeles
I-405 (San Diego Freeway) at I-10 Interchange
22,792

6. Atlanta
I-75 south of the I-85 Interchange
21,045

7. Washington (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia)
I-495 at I-270 Interchange
19,429

8. Los Angeles
I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) at I-5 Interchange
18,606

9. Los Angeles
I-405 (San Diego Freeway) at I-605 Interchange
18,606

10. Atlanta
I-285 at I-85 Interchange (“Spaghetti Junction”)
17,072

11. Chicago
I-94 (Dan Ryan Expressway) at I-90 Skyway Split (Southside)
16,713

12. Phoenix
I-17 (Black Canyon Freeway) at I-10 Interchange (“The Stack”) to Cactus Road
16,310

13. Los Angeles
I-5 (Santa Ana Freeway) at SR 22/SR 57 Interchange (“Orange Crush”)
16,304

14. Providence, R.I.
I-95 at I-195 Interchange
15,340

15. Washington (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia)
I-495 at I-95 Interchange
15,035

16. Tampa, Fla.
I-275 at I-4 Interchange (“Malfunction Junction”)
14,371

17. Atlanta
I-285 at I-75 Interchange
14,333

18. Seattle
I-5 at I-90 Interchange
14,306

19. Chicago
I-290 (Eisenhower Expressway) Between Exits 17b and 23a
14,009

20. Houston
I-45 (Gulf Freeway) at U.S. 59 Interchange
13,944

21. San Jose, Calif.
U.S. 101 at I-880 Interchange
12,249

22. Las Vegas
U.S. 95 west of the I-15 Interchange (“Spaghetti Bowl”)
11,152

23. San Diego
I-805 at I-15 Interchange
10,992

24. Cincinnati
I-75, from Ohio River Bridge to I-71 Interchange
10,088

Hey, it could be worse: We could live in L.A. For the full report, see:

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion_report/chapter3.htm#3_2