OMG IH-35 was HORRIBLE

[Murph]

Left Austin this AM at 10:30, and I have never seen 35 as bad as it was today. I almost had two wrecks from guys slamming on their brakes for no discernable reason. I cut over on 31 from Waco to get to Longview.

[loudtiger]

lol.. I-35.

[kenw]

and to think that some want to make i35 the main corridor to Mexico......

[Murph]

In all my years of driving 35, I have never had an experience like today, it was bad almost beyond imagining.

[jeffreyluce]

Somewhere about Waxahachie (going north) there was an RV (very nic$ one) on the concrete baracade... wreck looked pretty bad.

I was heading south - thankfully.

[JPalmer]

I try to avoid I-35 like the plague if possible.

Last year when I was driving all over the greater Austin metro area during the UIL State Golf and Tennis tourneys....I somehow stayed off I-35 the entire day.

I could not duplicate the feat...I think it was a combination of being lost and lucky.

[johnastovall]

Left University parking lot at 12:01pm. 11.5 miles and 14 minutes later pulled in drive at home.

I've gotten where I avoid I-35 at all costs. I can get to both Austin and San Antonio now and never go within 20 miles of it. Too many of the "blue highways" go where it goes and have less traffic and are easier on the nerves.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Biggest problem with I-35 and most other interstates are too many damn fools following to close to the next car at highway speeds hence they do slam on their brakes more than they should and even if wrecks do not occur traffic experts say that they create something akin to phantom wrecks that last for up to several hours on congested roads.

I bet you have driven on congested roads where traffic is stop and go and you are about at your wits end when all of a sudden you reach a point and it starts flowing smooth again and there were no wrecks there nor anything else out of the ordinary. Well that is one of those phantom actions that can for some reason affect traffic for long periods.

Nobody can really explain why they persist but they do.

I have found that if I stay back just a bit I can usually not hit my brakes anywhere near as often as the bumper runners. One time over about a 4 mile stretch I counted the times the bumper runners brake lights came on vs me hitting my brakes and it was something like 50-60 times for them and less than 10 for me though the guy behind me was trying to push my SUV along with his grill when I let the space ahead of me get more than a couple car lengths long. Applying brakes means you are killing off that energy that you just burned to get the car moving or lousier gas mileage.

[Hanky]

i sometimes wonder if we have inadiquate drivers trainning.

[Jay Henley]

When I drive from Fort Worth to Houston I try and get off on Hwy 6 in Waco and drive through the Bryan / College Station area to Houston. Nice road and lot less people.

[Don_B]

hey Murph: How long are you going to be in Longview--I'm only 10 minutes away--maybe coffee Friday morning?

[Hogleg 44]

Just think what it would be like around DFW Metroplex if it weren't split between the two cities.
I came South on IH 35W from US 287, going to 820 at about 1:45 pm today and had to abort to Basswood Blvd to go home because 35 was just creeping toward Ft. Worth!!!

[Daniel Bates]

Hey, my sister just left Longview for Austin this afternoon. Hopefully I-35 will be better the other way...

[Murph]

We are leaving friday, but doing the Oil Museum in the am.

Originally Posted by Don_B

hey Murph: How long are you going to be in Longview--I'm only 10 minutes away--maybe coffee Friday morning?

[simon]

Originally Posted by Hanky

i sometimes wonder if we have inadiquate drivers trainning.

I have no doubt at all