Trump Traffic

[Slave to the Phone]

Well, that's what we all named it. He visited our small town yesterday. Let me repeat, SMALL town. We have 2 lane highways with low speed limits. In town, 2 lanes if you are lucky and even lower speed limits.

We knew about it on Monday, but didn't know how bad it was going to get. I left for work 10 minutes earlier than usual (which should have put me in the parking lot 20 minutes early), but due to the heavy traffic caused by the flatlanders (waves at Deserted), I was in the parking lot with only 3 minutes to spare.

I don't know what is worse, camera vans driving 10 under in the left lane or out of towners who just want to slow down and look at the scenery.

Its a bunch of well fenced nothing that has cows wandering around! Stop staring at cows like they are from Mars and start looking at the road!!!

Most of the roads in the center of town were blocked, but I didn't have to go that way. One person tried to go home for lunch and was almost half an hour late back. We all got to point and laugh at him for being a dumass.

It was worse on the way home, all of the flatlanders going home were happy and excited and they still didn't know how to drive, so it was rubber band traffic all the way home.

All politics aside, I really do wish that when candidates decide to show their love for small town America, that they would take a moment to reflect on how it affects the people who live and work there.

[eltf177]

I remember eight years ago when Obama came to speak in my town in northern VA.

Traffic was a complete nightmare, took me over an extra hour to get home. Sent Obama a bill for my time and gas which he never paid...

[April]

I HATE when elected officials come to my city. It's worse when the president comes. Then our already congested highway gets shut down, traffic backs up horribly. (I don't care if anyone knows where I live LOL) The president always stays in the Broadmoor hotel, causing MORE traffic. trump stayed in a downtown hotel, which SUCKED. We've got a bunch of military bases too, and the traffic is horrendous (I have a feeling I know where you live too)

[mhkohne]

Oh yea, politican visits suck. Last time I was in Philly (the Mormons just finished a new temple ans were having an open house prior to sanctifying it) we got to wait 45 minutes tonget out of the garage due to a candidate visiting the city and clogging the streets.

[Crossbow]

I feel for you. I live in Cleveland, and my wife works downtown. Think what our summer was like...

[notalwaysright]

Yes, months ago a small town north of us had a last minute visit. The small town is in an area of supporters, but the larger town that I live in isn't, so there were some clashes. A few protesters blocked a main road, and many law enforcement had to be called in from out of the area. It was costly and sucked for those who just needed to go about their normal life.

[wolfie]

The president always stays in the Broadmoor hotel

Any connection to the Broadmoor mentioned in Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None (published under both titles) by Agatha Christie?

[ReverendBSB]

That's how I felt when the floods happened down here a couple months ago. People were complaining where's the president, I said keep him and all the candidates far away. Traffic was already bad enough with closed roads and bridges, keep motorcades and the like out.

[protege]

At least when the furries come to town we don't have to deal with monstrous traffic issues But seriously, when the President, or Trump, or Hillary come to town to speak, traffic tends to multiply. Various highways get closed for hours before and after they leave, forcing cars onto side streets...most of which cannot handle the sudden increase in traffic. Throw in the constant construction, and getting into or out of downtown can really suck.

[Slave to the Phone]

I'm a horrible person. I'm taking pleasure in knowing that I'm not the only one who suffered during a presidential or wannabe POTUS visit. That's just wrong, I do like you guys. I'm thinking that its more of a "yeah, it sucks, but at least I'm not alone" thing.

April, anyone with internet access would know that I work in Prescott Valley, like you, I don't really care.

Google it folks, its a small town. Phoenix, which is much better equipped to handle that sort of traffic is only 80 miles away.

He was speaking at a venue that only held 7500 people. The waste involved is mind boggling.

OTOH, I understand that there was a 1 day business boom. All the motels were full, the gas stations did great business, lines at all the drive-throughs, no parking at the sit down places. So, good for the extra money coming into the local economy. Bad for the people who had to try to live their lives around it.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Closest I've had to deal with anything like this was when a former vice presidential candidate came by the wholesale club to do a book signing. It was a nightmare of a day, not just because of the mobs of people who came by the store to register for club membership, buy the book, then stand in line to get it signed... but because we were also getting hit by a snowstorm that day, so you had all the other madness that gets associated with that.

Surprisingly, given I work on a government contract at a fairly significant agency, I have yet to run into any issues with traffic related to POTUS or any other major figures.

[eltf177]

Bad for the people who had to try to live their lives around it.

This exactly. I sure as blazes didn't get a tax break for Obama's visit! Just a lot of extra time and gas wasted to get home after a long day's work.

[April]

Any connection to the Broadmoor mentioned in Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None (published under both titles) by Agatha Christie?

haha I don't know? Maybe? I went googling and couldn't find it, but I did find this

Ice Castles (1978) was filmed in the former Broadmoor World Arena. It starred Lynn-Holly Johnson, a skater, and Robby Benson[44]
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987) was filmed at The Broadmoor.[44]
According to a report in The Gazette in 2001, President George W. Bush decided to quit drinking after waking up with a hangover in The Broadmoor one morning in the summer of 1986.[45] He wrote about the incident in his book A Charge to Keep. He said, "This run was different. I felt worse than usual. And about halfway through, I decided I would drink no more" and never drank again.[45]

[wolfie]

haha I don't know? Maybe? I went googling and couldn't find it, but I did find this

Did a Google search on Broadmoor England, and found it.

[Ben_Who]

I understand that the whole town of Kennebunkport breathed a sigh of relief when George W. Bush left office, not for any political reason, but because whenever he dropped by the family summer home at Walker Point, the whole town came to a halt. Kennebunkport, ME is off Route 1, so it doesn't get the tourist traffic; businesses would see a big dip as the Secret Service buttoned up the town to let the motorcade through. (Air Force One landed at the naval air station in Brunswick.) I imagine they tensed up again when Jeb Bush announced his candidacy.

There is a certain cachet to a favorite son candidate, but George H.W. Bush had twelve years of Secret Service protection and George W. Bush had eight, and there were several local inconveniences to a small town having to deal with that kind of attention. God knows what they had to deal with in Crawford.

Maine's had some exciting Presidential visits, but Portland or Bangor never really come to a standstill for them. Bill Clinton packed Hadlock Field in 1996 and traffic just flowed around it. Same with Trump's visit to Merrill Auditorium this summer.