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Oregon focused
Rush Hour Reflections: I-5 Is the Oregon Rush Hour Route Most Likely to Prompt Commuters to Rethink Their Lives, Reveals Poll.
- Poll of 3,004 drivers to find out which rush routes prompts the biggest soul searching.
- Other Oregon routes were US-26 + I-205.
- Infographic included.
Angelenos love to poke fun at how much time they waste on the 405 – a freeway so clogged near spots like LAX and the Sepulveda Pass that it’s practically a rite of passage. Down in Miami, some stretches of the I-95 are essentially a daily parking lot, with heavy commuter and tourist traffic snarling its lanes. Drivers bake under the Florida sun as they ponder why they didn’t take the train – or even a jet ski – to work. All over the country, people stuck in these infamous backups turn to podcasts or catch up on phone calls to kill time. But once the distractions dry up, they’re often left alone with their own thoughts, mulling over some of life’s heaviest questions.
Potamkin Hyundai ran a poll of 3,004, asking drivers one simple question: which rush hour stretch makes you rethink your whole life?
The top 3 spots in Oregon were:
#1 I-5 (Portland, Rose Quarter to Interstate Bridge)
Portland’s I-5 through the Rose Quarter and up to the Columbia River is notoriously congested, regularly clogging for over 6.5 hours a day. This stretch, Oregon’s worst choke point, features the short segment by downtown where three major interstates converge. In rush hour, it’s a slow-motion view of the Moda Center, the Willamette River, and your life choices. As you crawl, perhaps you think about how Portland’s famous livability is challenged by this daily grind – is moving to walkable inner Portland worth the cost to ditch the commute?
#2 US-26 (Portland, Sunset Highway from OR-217 to the tunnel)
The Sunset Highway carries commuters from Portland’s western suburbs (Beaverton, Hillsboro) into downtown, and each morning it’s a slugfest of Silicon Forest workers and city-goers converging toward the Vista Ridge Tunnel. The tunnel is a notorious bottleneck: traffic often backs up for miles before squeezing through into Portland. As you sit on an incline surrounded by towering Douglas firs that you’re too stressed to appreciate, you might start rethinking that lovely house you bought out in the burbs.
#3 I-205 (Portland/Vancouver bypass, Glenn Jackson Bridge)
I-205 is the eastern bypass of Portland and a lifeline for many commuters between Vancouver, WA and Oregon’s east side. At rush hour, the approaches to the Glenn Jackson Bridge (which carries I-205 over the Columbia River) turn into a creeping caravan. The bridge itself is long and scenic over the water, but at 5 mph, even the prettiest river can’t calm your nerves if you’re late for dinner. As you sit, you might also wonder about bigger moves – perhaps you consider relocating to one of Portland’s eastside neighborhoods so you never have to touch I-205 except for Costco runs. Or maybe different commute hours or exploring carpooling with that neighbor you saw on the bridge in the next lane. Oregon’s a land of planners and visionaries, and being stuck on I-205 leads you to plan and envision a life with a better balance.
The top five spots nationally turned out to be all New York and New Jersey routes. No shock there, really!
#1 I-95/New Jersey Turnpike (Newark to George Washington Bridge), New Jersey
This chunk of road is the East Coast’s traffic torture chamber. Heading toward the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, it’s regularly crowned the worst traffic chokehold in the country. Down by Newark, where the Turnpike’s car and truck lanes mash together, it’s pure chaos. Picture multiple lanes of cars, trucks, and buses all elbowing for space, only to slam to a standstill as they squeeze toward the bridge. New Jersey drivers stuck in this mess often find themselves wondering big things: Why shell out steep tolls for this headache? Could I just paddle across the Hudson instead? With hours lost here every year, there’s plenty of time to rethink everything.
#2 I-495 Long Island Expressway (Queens & Long Island), New York
Running from the Queens-Midtown Tunnel out through Nassau and Suffolk, this is Long Island’s lifeline – and it’s usually jammed up tight. During rush hour, especially around Queens and western Nassau, the LIE slows to a pace so sluggish it’s a running local gag. Drivers get literal hours to stare at the bumper sticker on the car ahead and chew over their lives. Maybe the whole Long Island deal – big house, grassy yard, brutal commute – starts to feel shaky. Is it worth slogging home every night behind a landscaping truck just for that? Some dream of swapping it all for a tiny place in Manhattan: no lawn, sure, but also no marathon crawl to go 20 miles.
#3 I-95 Cross Bronx Expressway (Bronx), New York
The Cross Bronx is one of the kings of traffic nightmares. Often called the most jammed-up road in the U.S., this short piece of I-95 hauls cars to and from the George Washington Bridge through a sunken slice of the Bronx. Calling it an “expressway” feels like a sick joke – during rush hour (and most hours, frankly), it’s a honking, stressful standstill. The delays here hit so hard that people start rethinking their entire existence. Sitting under graffiti-covered overpasses, you wonder why you’re paying sky-high New York rent to rot in your car. Some toy with escaping the city for good. Others, creeping along in fits and starts, mull wild career switches – maybe driving a cab at night would at least keep them moving. But dodging it’s nearly impossible for most New Yorkers, so the dread just keeps simmering. The Cross Bronx doesn’t just delay you – it makes you question your whole path.
#4 I-278 Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE, Gowanus to Kosciuszko Bridge), New York
The BQE keeps Brooklyn and Queens connected, but it’s a daily grind. The stretch under Brooklyn Heights – tucked beneath that triple-decker setup – and up through Williamsburg to the new Kosciuszko Bridge is a slow-motion disaster. Narrow lanes, potholes, and way more cars than its 1940s designers ever dreamed of make it a perfect mess. Rush hour here gives you all the time in the world to study the graffiti overhead and rethink your life. Peeking at the Manhattan skyline as you inch along, you might wonder, “Why not the West Coast? Sure, they’ve got traffic, but at least it’s not freezing.”
#5 NJ-495 (Lincoln Tunnel Approach), New Jersey
The haul from the NJ Turnpike to the Lincoln Tunnel is short but brutal, earning a rep as one of the East Coast’s most packed stretches. Buses zip by in their special lane while everyone else stews in bumper-to-bumper hell, half-tempted to ditch their car for a bus seat next time. The crawl is so maddening you start questioning every choice that led you here – why did driving in ever seem smart? Maybe a job in Hoboken would spare you the Hudson crossing. Or working remote from some quiet spot in Hunterdon County? By the time you hit the tunnel tolls, you’ve probably mapped out a whole new life just to dodge this slog.
Infographic showing with rush hour routes prompt drivers to rethink their lives
“We’ve all been there – stuck in traffic, staring at the same license plate for way too long, and suddenly you’re rethinking everything,” says Frank Pena, owner of Potamkin Hyundai. “Our poll shows these gridlocked highways aren’t just a hassle – they’re where people wrestle with life’s big moves. Maybe these rush hour routes will inspire a lot of drivers to shake things up and make changes for the better.”