INRIX (the folks who put together the traffic data you can pull up on your phone, laptop, blackberry, etc) has put together a study of the Top 100 most congested metropolitan areas in the U.S. The Twin Cities ranked 17th when it came to all day congestion, but we ranked 13th worst when it comes to rush hour traffic. These findings are similar to the latest Texas Transportation Institute report that ranked the Twin Cities, 19th and 15th respectively. This tells me we need to get commuters to drive slightly before or after rush hour.
INRIX also rated the Top 100 bottlenecks in the nation. The Twin Cities has only one in the Top 100. The I-35E/I-694 interchange is the 63rd worst bottleneck in the U.S. Lucky for us (or unlucky for those who have to drive through it every day), improvements to the interchange are currently under construction. Will the Twin Cities be without a Top 100 bottleneck in 2009?
