By Gary S. Vasilash

This is the classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario:

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has come out with its annual list of the most-congested locations on the national highway system for trucks.

About this situation, Chris Spear, American Trucking Association president and CEO, said: 

“Traffic congestion on our National Highway System inflicts an enormous cost on the supply chain and environment, adding $95 billion to the cost of freight transportation and generating 69 million metric tons of excess carbon emissions every year.”

None of which is good.

However, according to ATRI analysis, “traffic conditions continue to deteriorate from recent years, in some instances due to work zones resulting from increased infrastructure investment.”

That’s right: building roadways results in construction zones and construction zones lead to congestion.

So damned if they build, damned if they let it crumble.

Spear went on to say:

“The freight bottlenecks identified in this report provide an actionable blueprint for state and federal transportation officials on where to invest infrastructure funding most cost-effectively. Increasing freight efficiency should be a top priority for the U.S. DOT, and alleviating these bottlenecks would improve highway safety, protect the environment and support interstate commerce.”

Presumably the infrastructure projects–at least not all of them, because sometimes this seems to be the case–weren’t predicated on someone throwing darts at a map.

And again, while the bottlenecks will eventually be improved via infrastructure improvements, getting from here to there will not be without additional disruptions.

Where Driving Is Slow

Overall the ATRI, based on measurements from 325 locations, determined that during rush hour average truck speeds were 34.4 mph.

For the top 10 locales, the average speed was 28.5 mph.

The largest molasses zone?

The intersection of I-95 and SR 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

It has topped the ATRI list for six years running, an accomplishment that the Fort Lee Chamber of Commerce probably doesn’t promote.

And as for the remaining nine:

2. Chicago: I-294 at I-290/I-88

3. Chicago: I-55

4. Houston: I-45 at I-69/US 59

5. Atlanta: I-285 at I-85 (North)

6. Atlanta: I-20 at I-285 (West)

7. Los Angeles: SR 60 at SR 57

8. Houston: I-10 at I-45

9. Atlanta: I-285 at SR 400

10. Nashville: I-24/I-40 at I-440 (East)

Clearly this is a top-10 list that some city leaders—particularly in Chicago and Atlanta—probably wish they weren’t on.