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Austin jams among worst

Study finds two I-35 intersections to be the state's most congested

By Ines Min

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Published: Thursday, June 19, 2008

Updated: Sunday, July 20, 2008

06-19_TrafficDOM_Jeff.McWhorter.jpg

Jeff McWhorter

Motorists wait in traffic on I-35 at the Martin Luther King Jr. exit Wednesday afternoon. The MLK and Riverside exits were recently named two of the most congested interchanges in Texas.

Kinesiology senior Raquel Hernandez has been a Riverside resident for three years and takes the bus every day.

Hernandez said the ride from her apartment to campus takes 15 minutes on a good day but that when there's traffic, the trip can take 30 to 40 minutes.

"I was pissed at how long the bus took this morning," Hernandez said.

Hernandez said that she was riding the UT shuttle about a year ago when an accident occurred at the Riverside Drive and Interstate Highway 35 intersection, which is one of Texas' two worst traffic bottlenecks, according to a study released Tuesday.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard southbound and Riverside Drive northbound exits on I-35 are the most congested intersections in the state, according to INRIX, a research organization that records and predicts traffic trends. The average speed of traffic on MLK Boulevard during congestion is 9.8 mph. For Riverside, it is 17.1 mph during congestion.

Austin is ranked fourth in the nation for the shortest distance drivers travel in one hour and sixth for the highest percent-increase of time spent in congestion.

"A girl cut off the bus driver and he rear-ended her," Hernandez said of the accident. "We had to wait and transfer to another bus, which came and picked us up."

Gerri Seidle, an Austin Police Department highway enforcement officer, said better traffic signs would help alleviate the bottlenecking. He said that traffic occurs when drivers realize they are in a turn-only lane and need to slow down and change lanes.

"I've been a policeman for 30 years. The more information you give, the better," Seidle said. "There is signage at Riverside, but obviously it's not enough to get people's attention."

As for the MLK intersection, the numerous lanes can seem confusing, Seidle said.

"People commit to a lane that's not the lane they want to commit to."

Nationally, the worst hour to drive is on Friday from 5 to 6 p.m., according to the study. The least congested day to drive is Monday, but the best hour is on Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.