Traffic, traffic and more traffic

[lcm23]

Just got back from a Florida road trip and have been surprised at the traffic. When we went in 2010 and hired a car once in Orlando to get to the parks, I recall the driving being easy and no traffic of sorts that I recall. In 2010 we stayed on I Drive. This time we picked car up at MIA and on day one, drove to Everglades City. Lovely drive with no traffic. We then headed up to Cape Coral where we spent 4 days having trips out to the beaches, Naples, Siesta Key, Clear Water, Fort Myers. Travelling to the towns/beaches south of Cape Coral was fine, travelling north was much busier. From Cape Coral we headed to Orlando (Sandy Ridge) via Clear Water Beach. It took us 3hrs to get from Clear Water to Orlando due to traffic. Once in Orlando, we all commented on how you just couldn’t get anywhere quickly due to traffic. It was generally moving but slowly or very stop start. It was incredibly frustrating. After Orlando we headed to Davie, jus south of Ft Lauderdale so we were close to Miami but without staying amongst the hustle and bustle. The traffic down the south east is just bonkers. 5 and 6 lanes of traffic, moving but very stop start. You definitely need to have your wits about you. Thankfully I’m not a nervous driver and I’m not flustered by driving different cars but I can see how daunting driving over in Florida could be for someone. The things that alarmed me most are:

1) the amount of people driving whilst using a mobile phone.
2) how much the cars weave between lanes, cutting into the smallest of gaps.
3) no one lets you move lanes even when you’re indicating.

The last point really surprised me since there are so many lanes of traffic and roads peeling off, it’s easy to find yourself in the wrong lane. In the UK we are generally courteous enough to drop back and let someone into the line if they’ve gone wrong but no chance of that in Florida. I very nearly missed a couple of junctions because no one would let me in and they were always driving so close to each other.

We’ve had a fantastic holiday and seen some amazing places which we wouldn’t have done without a car but I must say that if we go back to Orlando, I’d be more tempted to stay in a Disney resort hotel and not bother with a car.

[Rowlf]

Yep we're just ending a two week trip and have found traffic here much more challenging than a year or two ago. The main reason is the increased internal migration into Florida of people moving from other parts of the country for work. In other words lots more people bringing lots more cars, especially in urban areas.

We started from Sanford down the 417, to the I4 and then I75. All had increased traffic but only the I4 significant hold ups. Our first week was in Sarasota and Longboat Key where frankly the driving was idyllic with 45 max speed limits on LBK and everyone keeping to them and driving super-friendly. Only up towards the I75 and the new UTC shopping areas did we hit congestion and pushy driving.

Unfortunately Hurricane Michael threatened to wash us out at LBK at the beginning of this week so we reluctantly decided to escape back up to Orlando. Our Davenport hotel is quite comfortable but the view out is the I4 with its cars packed and frequently static for much of the time. Driving around Orlando was always a chore but now it seems a real nightmare in places.

The only point I disagree with is not being able to lane switch easily by signalling. It may well be different in Miami, but I still find that if you're assertive, put on the flashers and make it clear you're moving over, people will drop back. It feels risky and even scary but that's how they do it over here. Driving a rental car helps as well...

[PPM]

Hi
In response to the three points
1. Unfortunately it’s legal to use a mobile phone whilst driving in Florida so people will do it.
2 and 3 ..Taken together. As there is high levels of traffic the only real way to move lanes, and they all do it, is to indicate when at the smallest of gaps, be assertive, and move, they will let you in, and they expect others to let them in. It can be the only way to get to off ramps.

As per Rowlf

But yes, you will see a difference between your trip in 2010 plus the volumes would have been boosted by folk moving to avoid the hurricane.
The trip the OP did sounds good, we haven’t made plans for our non park trip next May, I’m off to have a good look at some of the places.

[bonnies mum]

Yes, we recently returned from a cruise from Fort Lauderdale, thenfew days in the Keys, back to Fort Lauderdale & flight home from Miami.
Apart from the Keys the traffic was horrendous. Really busy roads with fast moving lorries, cars weaving all over the place, the amount of road works especially on the Turnpike was unbelievable.
This was by far the worst we have experienced in the 25+ Years we have been going.
I don’t know how my DH managed as I had my eyes shut a lot of the time and was a nervous wreck. On our 2nd last day I said to DH that I wanted home as I couldn’t take the traffic any longer.

[MOONCHESTER]

The traffic gets worse every year, this year it started to get to me, driving on the 192 used to be so easy, nowadays we find it too busy

[dvc]

This is why we do Magical Express and Lyft/Uber. No more driving for us and it works out so much cheaper!