Massachusetts is home to three of the worst highway bottlenecks in the country, according to a report released Monday.
The worst bottleneck locally is a 1.9-mile stretch of Interstate 93 through the O’Neill Tunnel and over the Zakim Bridge, a section of road where drivers spend an estimated 2.1 million hours combined stuck in traffic each year, according to the report from the American Highway Users Alliance.
That segment, from Interstate 90 (Massachusetts Turnpike) to Route 1, which was remade by the mammoth Big Dig project, ranks nationally as the 15th most-congested bottleneck.
The time wasted there costs drivers an estimated $58 million, and nearly 2 million gallons of wasted fuel, annually, the report said.
Advertisement
Another stretch of Interstate 93 ranks as the 28th worst bottleneck in the US.
That 1.2-mile section of highway in Milton, between Edge Hill Road and West Street, consumes an estimated 1 million hours of drivers’ time — which the report valued at $28 million — annually, the report said. More than 362,000 gallons of fuel are wasted there each year.
And a short segment of the Massachusetts Turnpike ranks as the 50th worst bottleneck nationwide.
The one-third mile drive inside the Massachusetts Turnpike tunnel in Boston, between Dorchester Avenue and A Street in Boston, claims an estimated 200,000 hours of motorists’ time annually. It costs drivers an estimated $7 million worth of time, and 135,000 gallons of fuel, to sit in traffic there.
The worst bottleneck in the country is in Chicago, the report found. Drivers spend 16.9 million hours — or $418 million worth of time — traveling along a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 90 there, wasting more than 6.3 million gallons of fuel along the way.
The report found that most of the worst bottlenecks are located in large metropolitan areas. New York City and Los Angeles had the greatest concentration.
Advertisement
The top 30 bottlenecks in the US deplete about 91 million hours of drivers’ time — worth $2.4 billion — annually, the report said.
The study said its findings are based on GPS data about vehicle speeds.
The report called on Congress to increase funding for roadway infrastructure nationwide.
Kathleen Bower, AAA vice president of public affairs and international relations, called the report results “a sad reminder that bottlenecks harm the quality of life of motorists nationwide.”
“Our states desperately need stable and predictable funding to fix these problems so that highway bottlenecks no longer rob people of time, endanger driver safety or cause costly wear and tear on our vehicles,” said a statement from Bower.
| National Rank | State | Urban Area | Location | Queue Length (miles) | Annual Total Delay (hours) | Annual Lost Value Of Time (US $) | Annual Fuel Wasted / Potential Savings (gallons) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | Chicago | I90 between Roosevelt Rd and N Nagle Ave | 12 | 16,900,000 | $418,000,000 | 6,370,000 |
| 2 | California | Los Angeles | I405 between SR22 and I605 | 4.1 | 7,100,000 | $191,000,000 | 1,819,480 |
| 3 | California | Los Angeles | I10 between Santa Fe Ave and Crenshaw Blvd | 6.9 | 6,900,000 | $187,000,000 | 2,231,840 |
| 4 | California | Los Angeles | I405 between Venice Blvd and Wilshire Blvd | 5.2 | 6,300,000 | $169,000,000 | 1,961,960 |
| 5 | California | Los Angeles | US101 between Franklin Ave and Glendale Blvd | 4.4 | 5,400,000 | $146,000,000 | 1,761,500 |
| 6 | California | Los Angeles | I110 between Exposition Blvd and Stadium Way | 4.3 | 5,400,000 | $145,000,000 | 1,855,880 |
| 7 | California | Los Angeles | US101 between Sepulveda Blvd and Laurel Canyon Blvd | 3.8 | 3,600,000 | $96,000,000 | 1,047,800 |
| 8 | New York and New Jersey | New York | Lincoln Tunnel between 10th Ave and John F Kennedy Blvd | 2.6 | 3,400,000 | $87,000,000 | 1,730,300 |
| 9 | New York | New York | I95 between I895 and Broadway | 3.1 | 3,000,000 | $82,000,000 | 1,545,700 |
| 10 | Texas | Austin | I35 between East Riverside Dr and E Dean Keeton St | 3 | 3,000,000 | $73,000,000 | 1,776,320 |
| 11 | California | Los Angeles | I5/I10 between N Mission Rd and US101 | 2 | 2,300,000 | $62,000,000 | 966,680 |
| 12 | California | San Francisco | I80 between US101 and Bay Bridge | 1.9 | 2,200,000 | $59,000,000 | 797,680 |
| 13 | California | Los Angeles | I10 between La Brea Ave and National Blvd | 2.2 | 2,100,000 | $57,000,000 | 551,720 |
| 14 | California | Los Angeles | I5 between S Eastern Ave and Euclid Ave | 2 | 2,100,000 | $56,000,000 | 992,160 |
| 15 | Massachusetts | Boston | I93 between I90 and US1 | 1.9 | 2,100,000 | $58,000,000 | 1,980,680 |
| 16 | California | Oakland | I80 between I580 and Ashby Ave | 2 | 1,900,000 | $50,000,000 | 691,860 |
| 17 | Washington | Seattle | I5 between Madison St. and Exit 168A | 1.6 | 1,600,000 | $45,000,000 | 619,840 |
| 18 | New Jersey | New York | I95 between SR4 and Palisades Interstate Pkwy in Fort Lee | 0.9 | 1,500,000 | $38,000,000 | 810,680 |
| 19 | New Jersey | New York | Pulaski Skyway I95 and Central Ave in Newarkbetween | 1.1 | 1,400,000 | $36,000,000 | 856,960 |
| 20 | Florida | Miami | Palmetto Expy between 41st St. and Dolphin Expy | 1.7 | 1,400,000 | $30,000,000 | 647,400 |
| 21 | New York | New York | I678 between Queens Blvd and Liberty Ave | 1.4 | 1,400,000 | $37,000,000 | 512,980 |
| 22 | Texas | Houston | I610 between Richmond Ave and Post Oak Blvd | 1.3 | 1,300,000 | $31,000,000 | 509,340 |
| 23 | Illinois | Chicago | I90 Between I55 and W Pershing Rd | 1.2 | 1,300,000 | $31,000,000 | 678,600 |
| 24 | Georgia | Atlanta | I75/I85 between Freedom Pkwy NE and North Ave NE | 1.3 | 1,200,000 | $27,000,000 | 392,600 |
| 25 | Texas | Houston | I69/I59 between Hazard St and Buffalo Speedway | 1.3 | 1,100,000 | $28,000,000 | 613,080 |
| 26 | Virginia | Washington, DC | I395 between Washington Blvd and George Washington Memorial Pkwy | 1.1 | 1,100,000 | $27,000,000 | 322,660 |
| 27 | Texas | Dallas | Woodall Rodgers Freeway | 1.1 | 1,100,000 | $26,000,000 | 470,860 |
| 28 | Massachusetts | Boston | I93 between Edge Hill Rd and West St | 1.2 | 1,000,000 | $28,000,000 | 362,700 |
| 29 | California | Los Angeles | I405 between Burbank Blvd and Ventura Blvd | 1 | 1,000,000 | $26,000,000 | 339,820 |
| 30 | California | Los Angeles | US101 between SR110 and Alameda St | 1 | 1,000,000 | $26,000,000 | 434,200 |
| 31 | New Jersey | New York | US1&9 between Wilson Ave and I78 | 0.8 | 800,000 | $21,000,000 | 291,720 |
| 32 | Florida | Miami | Dolphin Expy between 72nd Ave and Palmetto Expy | 0.5 | 800,000 | $17,000,000 | 405,080 |
| 33 | New York | New York | Brooklyn Bridge | 0.9 | 800,000 | $21,000,000 | 577,460 |
| 34 | Texas | Houston | US290 between I610 and Mangum Rd | 0.9 | 800,000 | $19,000,000 | 405,860 |
| 35 | Colorado | Denver | I25 between Santa Fe Dr and S Logan St. | 0.8 | 700,000 | $18,000,000 | 356,980 |
| 36 | Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | I76 at US1 between City Ave and Roosevelt Blvd | 0.8 | 700,000 | $16,000,000 | 263,120 |
| 37 | New Jersey | New York | Pulaski Skyway between Tonnelle Ave and Broadway | 0.7 | 600,000 | $15,000,000 | 347,620 |
| 38 | Virginia | Norfolk | US58 at Martin Luther King Fwy in Portsmouth | 0.6 | 600,000 | $16,000,000 | 210,600 |
| 39 | Florida | Miami | Dolphin Expy between 17th Ave and 22nd Ave | 0.6 | 500,000 | $11,000,000 | 158,080 |
| 40 | California | Los Angeles | I10 between I5 and US 101 | 0.6 | 500,000 | $13,000,000 | 240,240 |
| 41 | Virginia | Washington, DC | I495 at the Dulles Toll Road | 0.5 | 500,000 | $12,000,000 | 146,900 |
| 42 | New York | New York | Long Island Expressway (I495) near I-278 between 58th St and 48th St. | 0.4 | 400,000 | $10,000,000 | 117,260 |
| 43 | Texas | Dallas | I30 between St. Paul St. and I45 | 0.4 | 400,000 | $9,000,000 | 174,200 |
| 44 | Virginia | Washington, DC | I395 from Duke St to halfway between Duke St and Edsall Rd | 0.3 | 300,000 | $8,000,000 | 83,720 |
| 45 | Florida | Tampa | I4 between N 22nd St and N Nebraska Ave | 0.4 | 300,000 | $7,000,000 | 191,100 |
| 46 | Illinois | Chicago | I94 between I90 inter-change and N Elston Ave | 0.3 | 300,000 | $7,000,000 | 106,860 |
| 47 | Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | I676 between I76 interchange and N 24th St | 0.3 | 300,000 | $6,000,000 | 112,580 |
| 48 | Texas | Dallas | US75 between N Haskell Avenue and SR366 | 0.3 | 200,000 | $6,000,000 | 127,920 |
| 49 | Georgia | Atlanta | T. Harvey Mathis Pkwy between Johnson Ferry Rd NE and I285 | 0.3 | 200,000 | $6,000,000 | 73,580 |
| 50 | Massachusetts | Boston | I90 from Dorchester Ave to A St | 0.3 | 200,000 | $7,000,000 | 135,720 |
Matt Rocheleau can be reached at matthew.rocheleau@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mrochele