Q: We recently heard of the heavy traffic volume on California interstates. What is the heaviest traveled interstate in the country? In Georgia? In the East? West? — Lance DeLoach, Thomaston
A: Interstate 95, which runs from south Florida to north Maine, is the busiest interstate in the country, with average daily traffic of more than 72,000 vehicles. I-5 on the West Coast is the second busiest, at 71,000 average vehicles. But Federal Highway Administration officials point out there are many interstate segments around the country, from point to point, where traffic volume is much greater and those bottlenecks are where congestion is a problem. Spots with high traffic volumes in major urban areas are offset by low traffic volumes in rural spots, which is why I-95's average daily traffic is more than 72,000 vehicles. (The I-95 Corridor Coalition notes that I-95's daily peak traffic reaches more than 300,000 vehicles). Those bottlenecks include I-405 in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif., area, which is the country's most traveled urban highway, posting average annual daily traffic of 374,000 vehicles. These urban roadways round out the top 10, based on 2008 data from the FHA's Office of Highway Policy Information:
• State Route 60, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 337,000 average daily vehicles
• I-5, Mission Viejo, Calif., 334,000 average daily vehicles
• I-90, Chicago, 329,542 average daily vehicles
• I-110, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 328,000 average daily vehicles
• I-95, Miami, 328,000 average daily vehicles
• I-95, New York-Newark (N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.), 325,495 average daily vehicles
• US-59, Houston, 323,092 average daily vehicles
• US-101, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 321,000 average daily vehicles
• State Route 91, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 318,000 average daily vehicles
The list also includes these freeways in Atlanta: I-75, with 274,060 average daily vehicles, I-285, with 261,220 average daily vehicles, and I-85, with 258,490 average daily vehicles.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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