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Originally Posted by dadspet
Just made to trip to Ocala and the traffic to and from Ocala was Awful - bumper to bumper and average speed most of time under 30mph. If you planning a trip there I'd suggest leaving early or going up 301 (not sure if its any better since I was on I75). I wonder if it's the 4th of July visitors. I've never experienced it this bad. The weren't any obvious reason for the slow movement (no accident etc.). In Ocala Sam's some of the people we talked to said its becoming more of the norm.
As a side note the pavement on Rt 44 is becoming rough in spots. Especially Turning from Buena Vista to 44, but there are a few other areas.
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I-75 is a pretty busy race track, with a lot of folks that tend to weave across lanes trying to get ahead of the other fellow. 441/21/301 is a slower route up to Ocala from TV, but IMHO more enjoyable than the 'white knuckle drive' on I-75
I once read a traffic assessment that seemed to answer why the traffic piles up on the interstates and slows down when no accident is involved...not sure if it's completely accurate, but it sure made sense to me...it went something like this:
very few drivers actually travel at the speed limit...most are 10 + mph above the posted speeds, and some really 'bury the needle'...however, there are those that stay within the posted limit (and sometimes play 'speed cop' out in the left hand lane)
when those traveling at higher rates of speed approach multiple vehicles that are traveling at the posted speed limits, traffic begins to slow down and back up while the drivers that want to travel at a faster speed maneuver around the slower moving vehicles...once that begins to happen, there is a domino affect...as cars continue to come up to 'the pack' and more back up...further back drivers see the red tail lights and begin to slow down...and it just continues to mushroom....eventually the accordion factor sets in and we enter the stop, start, stop, go mode
now on the other hand, construction, trash in the roadway, a cop car to the side with lights flashing and an accident will also back the traffic up
add to it all that by the time infrastructure plans are actually funded and construction completed the new roads are often already insufficient to handle the volume of traffic that will be using the road