Traffic in Carson City

One consequence of living close to work is that I don't often get to see much of the city during working hours. But today, I saw all I needed to see.

Since Roop Street closed, I've been taking a round-about way to get across town, via Edmonds and College Parkway. In a sojourn to Reno this morning, I thought that maybe this was too far out of the way to really save any time. So, when I got back to Carson just after noon, I decided I'd take Carson Street all the way through town.

I'll never do that again.

Traffic was backed up from about Valley Chevrolet to as far as the eye could see, bumper to bumper, with the other lane always moving faster than the one I was in.

It took four cycles to get through the light at Hot Springs. By the time I got to Winnie Lane, I figured I could have already been back at work eating my lunch if I had taken my round-about detour.

Unable to take it anymore, I cut off on Bath Street, past the old Appeal building, and turned south on Division. This street was busy, but it was moving, and I made pretty good time getting to the other side of town.

Having spent most of my lunch break in traffic, I stopped off at Burger King for lunch. I noticed that by the time I picked up my food and turned back on Carson Street, I was ahead of a couple of RVs that were in front of me back by Winnie Lane.

Now that's slow.

The question is, is this normal, or did I just hit the wrong street at the wrong time?