I was on I75 N on Saturday and it took me 7 curse filled hours to travel from Tampa to Lake City.... and there were no accidents up ahead!!!! I heard that I 95 N was backed up also for over 10 miles at one point and that I-4 was a complete mess also. But no fuggin way do we need any improvements to the mass transportation system in this state.... that barely exist anyway. It's a 7 hour bus ride from Lake City to Tampa and a 9 hour bus ride returning and there is no direct slow train service from that area down to Tampa. This state is in the dark ages with regard to Public transit and yet it has a horrific traffic problem due to the ever increasing amount of year round population and also a heavy influx of tourists from the US north and all parts of the world as well. And yet.... our would be GOP Senator Rick Scott as Florida Governor was adamant about turning down federal money for high speed trains a few Obama years ago and he has done absolutely zero... nada... to alleviate the traffic problems that exist. What a fuckin loser...... :evil:
Dave, Saturday was the migration of spring break vacationers back to their homes in the northern states. Bad day for travel.
The high speed rail wasn't going from Tampa to Lake City anyway. I don't know how much tax dollars would be spent and how much would be "wasted"...nor do I know if the high speed rail would be a boon for everybody or just a government sponsored boondoggle for those going frequently from Tampa to Orlando or Orlando to Miami. Maybe a better use of dollars would be to widen the interstate.
I-4 anywhere near Orlando is an absolute nightmare no matter the time of year. If anything could ease that traffic it would be a godsend. That said we need high speed modern public transportation running all routes in the state.... and I would propose taxing tourists dollars to pay for it and get the damn thing right. Using the federal money offered would have been a great first step in the right direction and could have got the damn thing off the ground but we shouldn't stop there.... agreed. Now we have done nothing.... zero.... and the problem has become much worse. Nice job jackass.
The Bright is only Line high speed train is scheduled to run from Miami to Orlando. Unfortunately for me the track runs through Hobe Sound about 1/2 mile from my home there. This train apparently can hit speeds well over 100 mph. They have been running partial test runs for a month or two south of us. So far the train has hit multiple vehicles in addition to killing four people.
Orlando's I-4 rivals the worst traffic fiascos I have ever encountered anywhere in the U.S. Hey Gipper one of the worst areas on Sat. was I 75 N near The Villages. You would have missed a tee time if you were adventurous enough to play somewhere other than your home courses.
I had a business appointment on Long Island, about halfway out. As the crow flies from my office about 60 miles. On the roads arounds New York City, about 91 miles. I left two and half hours early. Got there one and a half hours late. That is four hours to go 90 miles. And about $40.00 worth of tolls as well.
Of course it was. It's where the Fla. Turnpike merges with I-75. All the spring breakers from the east coast get together with the folks coming up from the Gulf Coast causing a nasty jam. Happens a couple of times a year. There's one after the Christmas break too.
Sid, coming back from Islip , Long Island that day I vowed to avoid the Belt Parkway and Staten Island at any cost. So I deliberately cut through Manhattan at 3:00P on a business day from the Mid-Town tunnel on the east side to the Lincoln Tunnel on the west side. Made it home in half the time. You know traffi is bad when you use Manhattan as a short cut!