Tortuous Freeways Cause Problems

Freeways are a significant part of our ever day life. I use one freeway to get to school another to get to work and yet another to visit friends and family. They need to be efficient and take into careful consideration the way that cars function and how the brain reacts. Freeways get us from point A to point B, but I doubt anyone really scrutinizes their design elements on an every day basis.

I recently moved to Sacramento from the Los Angeles region. In Southern California I noticed there were many freeways that connected so that I had as little side street driving as possible. The 210 freeway was built near my house only a couple of years ago and featured long on and off ramps and many lanes including a carpool lane.

In Sacramento I am somewhat disappointed with the configuration of freeways. They never seem to connect where you need them to, and it's difficult to get from one to the other. I have noticed that the freeways are rarely straight and feature many curves that make you slow down dramatically. The last thing a motorist wants to do is decrease their speed especially because it wastes gas and takes longer to get where you are going. Off and on ramps here are not very conducive to getting on a high speed freeway which slows down traffic.

It may seem weird that I have taken the time to talk about freeways, but they are a big part of my life. Freeways, major roads, and highways in the Sacramento region really need a good makeover to become more efficient and safe for everyone.