You may be reading this preparing to hop in the car before facing the chaos of I-77 North heading into Uptown. How about Park Road en route to SouthPark at 5 p.m.?
It’s no secret. Charlotte has a lot of traffic. During peak morning and evening rush hour, the bumper-to-bumper gridlock can feel hard to escape.
In fact, the Queen City’s traffic congestion ranks among the highest in the country, according to new data from the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard. The survey looked at three years of travel delay comparisons, costs of congestion to drivers, and commuting trends based on metro area traffic patterns to garner these rankings.
The end results found these striking numbers for Queen City commuters:
- Charlotte ranked No. 20 for the highest traffic delay times by city in the US.
- The top 3 cities were New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
- 41 hours lost in congestion
- $734 cost of congestion per driver
The worst portion of the morning and afternoon commute times had peek traffic speeds at 31 mph. Compare that to low point periods when peek speeds average 45 mph.
The scorecard found the busiest traffic corridor in the city is I-77 between exit 1B (along West Arrowood Road) and exits 9 B-C (heading into Uptown).
Busier roads mirror Charlotte’s ongoing population boom. According to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, the region saw a daily inflow of 117 new residents from July 1, 2022 to July 1 2023 alone. Going further, U-Haul reports the Queen City saw the second-highest net gains of customers in the country.
In other words, we’re having to share the roads with more people calling Charlotte home. Give yourself plenty of time and find a good playlist.
What’s the busiest road in Charlotte? Let us know your travel tips.
