Three of America's Worst Traffic Bottlenecks Are in Miami

You ever find yourself stuck on the Palmetto during rush hour and think, "Jeez, there can't be traffic anywhere else in the country worse than this." Well, technically, there are 19 stretches of road in the country with worse traffic. Not that that's much of a comfort.

Indeed, a new report from the American Highway Users Alliance finds that Miami does have some of the worst traffic in the nation. Three stretches of road in Miami-Dade made the list for the country's worst 50 traffic bottlenecks. 

All three are on our expressways. 

Palmetto Expressway Between 41st and the Dolphin Expressway
"The most severe Miami area bottleneck is a 1.7-mile section on the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) extending between 41st Street and the Dolphin Expressway (SR 836) near Miami International Airport," reads the report. "The delays add up to about 1.4 million hours annually. This costs the local economy approximately $30 million in lost time per year. "

The stretch of road was ranked the 20th worst bottleneck in the country.
 
Dolphin Expressway From 72nd to The Palmetto 

The second worst bottleneck in Miami was also near the intersection of the Palmetto and the Dolphin. This stretch was ranked the 32nd worst traffic bottleneck in the country. Backups on the half-mile stretch account for about 800,000 hours of total lost time a year, or a loss of about $17,000,000 in total working hours. 

Dolphin Expressway Between 17th Ave and 22nd Ave 

Meanwhile, another stretch of the Dolphin accounted for the 39th worst bottleneck in the country. Many commuters end up having to travel through both Dolphin backups before getting home. This backup accounted for 500,000 of lost hours a year, worth approximately about $11,000,000. 
To identify and rank the bottlenecks, AHUA used data analysis CPCS Transcom Inc, which in turn used raw data from vehicle speed changes collected form smart phones and GPS devices. They used data from 2014 while construction of the Dolphin-Palmetto Interchange may have added extra traffic misery to the area. 

Much of that project was finally completed last month, but the final phases should be done by March 2016.