With Rome becoming a popular city to settle down in, the traffic has seen a large increase. Rome is known for its “small-town feel”, families like it for the options regarding schooling and dining.

I have lived in Rome for almost my whole life. And when I say the traffic is bad, it is bad. When I was a kid there used to never be lines of cars on Turner McCall, or a backup on 2nd Avenue. I used to be able to cross the town from east Rome to Armuchee in no more than 20 minutes. But now, that has all changed and that is no longer the case. There are a few reasons for this.

New Citizens

Rome, like previously mentioned, has become home for a lot of new families and people. Obviously, with the influx in people, comes the influx of cars on the road in the mornings and during the rush hours. A lot of adults have to commute across town, some to drop off kids, and some to go to work, even some do both.

New Construction 

One of the biggest reasons, (and the biggest pain in the butt things), is the new construction of 2nd Avenue, one of the main roads to get to Armuchee, Horseleg, West Rome, Broad Street, and basically everywhere else. It is a widening project to make the roads on that specific strip wider. But the problem is, is that they’ve blocked off the section that goes straight onto the main road, which means cars have to go up to the light to turn left, but the left turn lane is only like 5 feet long. This leads to a long car line up, which also makes it impossible to go straight because you have to wait on everyone else. This has made 2nd avenue impossible to go down if you’re going towards Armuchee or west Rome.

New Ways

Now that we’ve covered the traffic, how do we bypass and overcome it? There are a few ways depending on where you’re trying to go. As seen in the main graphic, anything in green is a way to bypass. If you’re trying to go to west Rome or Armuchee, you can go down 2nd Avenue and then take 5th Street and cut through and then turn left or go straight. The traffic on Turner McCall is fairly unavoidable, because you have to take it to get to Riverbend or Eastbend. However, the traffic on that specific part does move faster than most. On the image attached, I showcased some alternatives to face these build ups.

I have found it to be, simply put, the biggest headache possible to have to drive anywhere, especially through town. Slow drivers also make me go crazy, along with distracted drivers on their phones. I’m sure when the construction ends, the pattern will fall back to normal, or something close to it without all the build up. However, the project is projected to end until 2026, leading this horrible traffic to last pretty long.