The Brad Hole

One of the things I'm having to get used to in San Jose (and maybe California in general) is driving. Specifically, there are a few things there that are very different from Phoenix.

For one, the freeway designers here must've really loved cloverleaf ramps, because they're everywhere. I find this is harder to manage because you can't really drive on a cloverleaf with any speed, and when it comes time to merge onto the freeway, it's not unusual to have a very short space in which to do so, which means quick and rapid acceleration and (sometimes) praying for a spot to merge into.

The other thing is that the freeways here don't seem to follow a consistent pattern in where the on- or off-ramp will be. For example, let's say you're approaching a freeway with the intention to enter. In Phoenix, it's simple: you get in the left lane of the road and enter the freeway via a left turn past a light or for the other direction, enter the right lane and make a right onto the freeway ramp at the light. Rare is the freeway exit in the Phoenix area that doesn't follow this pattern, so you pretty much always know what the expect. Here of course it's a bit more of a crap-shoot. I'd say most of the time (60-75%), owing to the cloverleaf arrangement, you can count on always entering from the right lane of a road, but that's certainly not always the case. And it's not consistent enough to the point where I'm prepared.

The other really striking thing about the San Jose area is that it seems all major roads have divided medians, contrasted to the left-turn "suicide lanes" that are literally everywhere in Phoenix. The upshot of this is that it's incredibly common to make a U-turn in San Jose. I've probably made more U-turns here in the past week and a half than the past several years in Phoenix. This almost got me in trouble yesterday. Because of the U-turn phenomenon, if you are making a right turn here, you pretty much have to sit and make sure cross-traffic is not going to make a u-turn in front of you. I was ready to make a right turn into the cross-traffic (which was clear in my direction) when I saw a guy come screaming through and make a u-turn right in front of me. In Phoenix, a U-turn is rare enough that if you are making a right, it would be almost shocking to see someone make a U in front of you. (Thinking back, I don't know that I recall this happening to me in Phoenix.)

I don't know if this is related, but I've noticed that drivers here are a little, well, crazy. They're either super-aggressive or super-passive. There seems to be no middle ground. I figure one of two things: they either know the area they're in by heart and can deal with the idiosyncrasies or they're in unfamiliar territory and have no idea what wacky traffic flow or signage is coming up.

I've said this before, but it's a point I become more convinced of each time I'm away: if there's one thing that the Phoenix metro area does well, it's street and freeway planning. This is no doubt in large part to most of the roads having been built in the last 30 years, but the difference is still pretty amazing. I'd be interested in hearing a city planner or civil engineer comment on that to see if I'm just crazy. Citizens of Phoenix may not feel that way if they've lived there all their lives, but all it takes is driving in some other city to really appreciate the consistency that Phoenix has.