Today was an unusual day in that I had an early morning appointment half way across town (approximately 13 miles ).  As always it was a mad scramble to get not only myself going but also my 17-year old who is a senior at Galena High School.  With my planned trek I had to drop him off at school early.  As I work from my home I am usually sitting at my computer at 6 am, but I don’t have to be on the road.  My husband gladly helps out with making lunch and more times than not drops my son off on his way to the office. 

Now to most of you this is more than routine; you not only have to get your kids to school and yourself to work on a daily basis but you also have to bare the brunt of bumper to bumper traffic along the way.  Having lived in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale and Los Angeles, I am more than familiar with traffic!

So, I take the 2 minute ride to Galena High School, drop off Cody, and then make my way down Mt. Rose Highway to 395N toward Plumb Lane (the Airport Exit).  By this time it is 7:35 am.  I reach my stride on the highway and place the car on auto pilot at 65mph to enjoy the beautiful morning.  I notice a few cars around me, but I do not have to slow down until I reach my exit about 6 minutes later.  Five minutes after that I arrive at the dentist’s office with 10 minutes to spare.

As many times as I have made a similar drive, I never forget to thank my lucky stars that Reno is so easy to navigate and that our traffic is still managable!  I sometimes arrive at my office to overhear someone complaining that the traffic today was awful!  My only response is, WHERE?  Unless you’ve been in a 4-hour sig alert on the 405 Freeway you have no idea what traffic is!  Yes, we have our slowdowns and even our “rush hour,” but it doesn’t compare to any number of cities across this nation that deal with gridlock on a daily basis.  Our average commute is about 20 minutes. 

Now for those of you who disagree, I do concede that if you live on the north side of town your traffic is a bit heavier because of the growing number of people living in those areas and only having a 2-lane highway.  Also, the University of Nevada, Reno Campus, is located on the north side of Reno between N. McCarran Blvd. and 9th Street which creates it’s own traffic.  We also, I will acknowledge, have accidents from time to time that will slow down or even stop traffic.  However, I have first hand knowledge that if you are in a traffic slowdown you can exit at your next opportunity and take surface streets and still arrive at your destination within 10 minutes or so.

Even after 10 years, I still love this town!