The Top 5 WORST Cities to Drive Through on the East Coast

On this video we take a look at the top 5 worst cities to drive through on the East Coast of the United States.

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[Mistereastcoast]

As a life long east coast resident, the drive from Philly to VA is soul sucking. Richmond to DC too.

[jonathanbowers]

The problem with Atlanta is the constant lane switching in an environment that is actively hostile to lane switching.

[sharonthetrucker]

As an over-the-road truck driver, I choose to go through many of these cities late at night. I make my drive enjoyable by not stressing about the traffic on the road but enjoying the views. I enjoy going through cities at night when everything is lit up.

[jacktion]

Mike’s not exaggerating when he says the BQE is backed up 24/7. I used to get off of work between 11PM-midnight, and sometimes it would take me 45 minutes to go the 6 miles back to my apartment.

[KathrynHaugan]

THANK YOU for including I 95 in South Carolina...not only overcrowded but potholes...semis...crazy drivers...yikes.

[TheDorlens]

One major thing they did in Baltimore was getting rid of the toll plaza after the tunnel on 95, it’s just ezpass cameras now and it helped with the awful backups that would happen there ALOT

[goldtigre]

Boston has got to make this list. With I-90 and I-93, I-95 and 495 acting as beltways, routes 9 and 20, it still has wait times of around 4 miles an hour on most weekdays

[DarkSideMaceWindu]

I'm glad you put South Carolina on here, 95 in SC is horrendous.

[rpm]

I used to do the drive from PHL to Boston on a regular basis and PHL to eastern Long Island, too . The thing that can be said about getting through New York is that least there are a few different options if you know them. Sure, there are times when it's just going to suck, but if you plan around those times and otherwise know the road map, you can survive.

Fun video, thanks for doing it!

[GABESTA]

I've heard the reason South Carolina puts no money into I-95 is because it goes through such a sparsely populated area. Apparently when 95 was built, SC wanted it to go through Charleston and the feds said no because the point of 95 was to get through SC as quickly as possible and building it through Charleston would have added many hours to travel time between Florida and the Northeast.

[timpmoriarty]

Wild that Boston isn’t on here, especially with South Carolina included. That state barely has more people than just the metro area of Boston, it couldn’t possibly be worse. Consistently top 3 worst traffic in the country, the roads are famously confusing, and traffic usually lasts from 6am to 9 pm. Northbound the pike is usually backed up from the CT line, 95 is backed up from Providence. Southbound is often backed up a few miles into Maine (in the summer up to Kennebunk). 93 isn’t even worth considering if you’re passing through.

[eugenewalton]

I just did the I95 drive from Miami to Portland ME - northbound through NYC and southbound using the i84/81 route around the megalopolis. I always try to avoid the DC and NY metro areas for their traffic woes and have learned that sometimes going right through a city instead of using the ring road can save time - if you time it right. A new subscriber here and what I see I really like. Drive safe. E

[sarysa]

Some trucker perspective:
- Most of the time I've had decent luck with I285 Atlanta. Aside from all the 50mph traffic in the right two lanes anyway.
- NYC...unless near max weight (due to the grades), regardless of time of day, I try to take i81 to i84 when headed to New England if it can make a lick of sense. If not, I'll end my day around Vince Lombardi and go through at night. (but I'm graveyard shift anyway so...)
- Surprised you didn't mention i495 for DC. About the same distance, it's usually only clogged during rush hour.

Dishonorable mention goes to the area between NYC and New Haven, CT. I try to avoid day driving here, and it's another reason why I love i84.

[likerockcrazy]

The amount of potholes I encountered going northbound on i-95 through SC from FL to NC was abysmal. Never have I drive through such a bad interstate.

[Dragonwolf]

I think an honorable mention should go to the Norfolk, VA Beach, and newport news area, absolute nightmare

[juozasluksa]

The list makes sense to me as a NoVA resident with family in New England that I visit quite often. As for going around NYC, it's either the Garden State Parkway, Major Deegan to Cross County, or the Palisades up to the bridge crossing at Nyack/Tarrytown. It's just easier, these days, to travel at night if possible.

[mayavenuemisfit]

It took my wife and I 10 hours to drive from Myrtle Beach to Washington, D.C. over the summer. Over half of those 10 hours were spent in Virginia, along the stretch of 95 between Richmond and the Capital Beltway.

Come to think of it, there isn't a single city on the East Coast that I DO like driving in or through. Except maybe for Winston-Salem. I've never had any problems or issues down there.

[alexlowe]

Atlanta resident here. I'm glad someone recognizes the one thing our city has that very few other cities in the US can boast: the worst traffic in the southern US. All the things you pointed out are true. Bad public transport, a horrible lack of alternative roads, and intersections that clog up the highways. I was at an event with people from multiple US cities, and nearly every one of them was surprised at how bad the traffic was.

The Dunwoody area, right at the north of the perimeter, is currently undergoing one of the largest traffic reconstruction efforts I've ever seen in my life. Every intersection is being completely reworked with a ton of bypass roads, giant exchange bridges, and practically every intersection is changing to a diverging diamond intersection. I'm not sure how much it'll help, since reducing capacity on the highway will only encourage more people to start using it, which will just put traffic right back where it was before all the construction.

The last few weeks traffic on 285 between Dunwoody at GA 400 and i-75 has been absolutely horrible, even at times of the day that shouldn't have bad traffic. The reason? They're building a replacement bridge for one of the smaller roads going over 285. The act of closing down that single small bridge is causing substantial diversions to the interstate exit, which has two interlocked roundabout that backs up the traffic trying to exit the interstate. I've never seen such a giant traffic mess caused by shutting down a single minor bridge when there are four other bridges to cross the same section of 285 within a mile. It's currently graveyard shift hours, and Atlanta and New York are the only eastern cities with any traffic congestion. We need help.

[DataD-op]

I've driven through all these cities and highways you mentioned and can agree with the order of difficulty. I could feel the stress of driving through Atlanta and New York especially. Atlanta seems more stressful because I like the New York City scenery much better. Driving in the U.S. seems like a dream compared to other places I've seen like Lagos, Nigeria or Bogota, Colombia.

[jamesb]

Mike you have some very good points! From driving OTR every place you mentioned is best to go through at night.