Five Reasons Why I Hate To Drive In Denver (Opinion)

I find myself having to travel to Denver frequently and it's not a trip I ever enjoy.

Not the trip TO Denver, because that part is awesome. Going through our beautiful Rocky Mountains is the best part of the trip. But once you get to Denver, the real white knuckle driving starts. Let me give you my reasons why.

Construction

The highways are always under some kind of construction. And there are so many people in Denver that construction zones cause closures and backups sometimes a half mile or more long. For people in Denver who are used to those zones, it's probably not a big deal. But for those of us just visiting, it's the beginning of a long and agonizing headache.

Improper Lane Use

We know this one well here. Left lane campers are infuriating around here where the volume of traffic is much lower. Add in over a million people and suddenly those slow driving left-laners become a serious obstacle. And they seem clueless. I have cussed myself hoarse driving in Denver over this one.

Surface Streets

Once you get off the highway, you have to navigate the streets of Denver which sometimes resemble war zones. You've seen the potholes and cracks and fissures in the streets there I'm sure. But it's not just the road conditions. It's the streets themselves. Several hundred one way streets just looking for direction. And the lights? Have you ever traveled down Colfax or Federal Blvd. and stopped at every single light? Someone needs to time those lights out better.

Drivers

Beyond the left lane campers, there are those who drive the same way whether it's surface streets or highways. Slowly. The worst drivers are the ones who just decide to go 25 miles an hour everywhere. And when you have a whole group of them, it looks like a parade. An infuriatingly slow parade. Or the high-speed racers who cut in and out of traffic, just missing your bumper and almost out of control. Drivers in Denver are a special group, for sure. And then there are the distracted drivers. If you can barely drive in the first place, please leave the phone off until you get where you're going. Please?

Pedestrians

How many times have you driven down a Denver street and, out of nowhere someone is crossing the street. Slowly. And not at the crosswalk either. It's not bad enough you have to pray you to get to where you're going while dealing with other vehicles. But pedestrians take their lives into their own hands. And yours. So make sure you keep an eye out for sudden pedestrians.

Have fun driving in Denver. I don't.