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51 Freeway
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
13 reviews for 51 Freeway
13 reviews in English
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Review from Andy L.
Phoenix, AZ
2/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
Area 51 or Hwy 51
Freeway is better since the speed cameras have been taken out. I agree that good to use city streets during rush our, but for the most part, this is a scenic and clean freeway. Good access and it is the middle of Phoenix. Weird to be reviewing a freeway. I just made that up about Area 51, but if you think that there are weird things that happen in the mountains some where, there probably is. -
Review from Tasia T.
Scottsdale, AZ
12/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
I shall quote "Tune Out" by The Format for my 51 freeway review. Ahem:
"I'll tap the brake while you crack the window
The smell of smoke is making my lungs explode
The 51 is backed up and too slow
Let's tune out by turning on the radio"
Around the Dreamy Draw curve your radio may just be playing static and you will most likely drop a phone call, but hey, you shouldn't be distracted by those anyway when you are driving. I love the carpool lane and try to avoid this freeway, like any other, during rush hour. 3 Stars for getting me from point A to point B quicker then surface streets. -
Review from Paul V.
The 51 is my favorite highway in Phoenix simply for the scenic views and convenience. The drive through the Phoenix Mountain Preserves is a nice change from the boring highway driving in this city. If you can, I'd avoid this highway Mon-Fri between 7am-8am (southbound) and 4:30pm-5:30pm (northbound). Those seem to be the worst times. Also, avoid the exit for the 101 west during the evening rush hour. It's a nightmare. My one and only goal in life is to be the Duke of the 51 Freeway.
PS-If you litter the highways or anywhere in AZ, I'll turn your ass in.
Don't Trash AZ: 877-354-8837 -
Review from Patrick H.
Scottsdale, AZ
8/26/2011 4 Check-ins Here
It's a freeway.
Traffic sucks near downtown but the views are nice through Dreamy Draw.
I think I just saw Kurdy passing by! -
Review from Phyllis K.
Phoenix, AZ
3/31/2011 32 Check-ins Here
Meh...
Super slow going southbound in the morning. I've discovered I can get to work quicker on surface streets, which are no picnic.
Decent ride when it's not rush hour. Nice view through the mountains. -
Review from Tonia B.
5/15/2011
The 51 is okay. I have found that while I enjoy it, it actually is never the quickest way to get anywhere I need to go, which is sad and unfortunate.
However, I'm amazed at how many people are checking in on the 51. Maybe the highway patrol should be checking yelp to see where they need to start hanging out :) -
Review from Adam M.
East Village, Manhattan, NY
7/1/2008
I love the 51 because, many years ago, I managed to lose a police helicopter that was following and tracking me with it's spotlight, in the middle of the night. I felt like James Fucking Bond 007. First of all because I have 0 respect for law enforcement officers and their Nazi-like "just following orders" arrests of people for victimless crimes, followed by locking them in government cages. Second of all, because I knew that the statistical chances of me ever being tailed by a Police helicopter and managing to lose it, at any time again in my entire life, approached 0. Third, because I spontaneously adapted an idea from an entirely different field.
Story time! Pull up a chair.
The setting: mid-late 1990's. Perhaps around 1996, 1997, when there was massive construction going on, on the 51. I lived downtown, on Roosevelt back then. Roosevelt then was NOTHING like it is now - most foot traffic was crack heads and transvestite hookers. But whatever, I'm from NY and I felt right at home. We're a tough breed.
I had spent the evening visiting some people who were friends at the time - if you remember The Congo, after it turned into the first Internet coffee house ("cyber cafe") in the Valley - it was the couple that made that happen.
It was late at night. I was driving home, tired. I just wanted to get home and into bed, so I was speeding. A lot. Next thing I know, there are light flashing all over my car. I look behind me and see nothing. Roll down the window and look up, thinking I'm about to be abducted by aliens in a Betty and Barny Hill type scenario. Nope! Just the Popos! They had their spotlight on me and were ordering me to pull over on the megaphone.
First thought: Oh shit. I'm going to jail tonight. I had probably been smoking some high grade indoor sensimillia or something similar all evening. I know, dumb to do that and drive. I'm much more responsible now, so if you want to give me a hard time for being a dumbass at the age of 23, go right ahead and I'll probably agree with you - I was a with an outsized ego because I was... a computer programmer at the time. Sounds dorky but unless you've been in that world, you have no idea of the massively exaggerated sense of self worth a kick ass software developer can have. Now that I truly am that awesome, I look back and laugh. ;)
Anyway, I digress, Back to my police problem.
Brainstorm! Amazing what the chemically altered mind can come up with.
I've always had an interest in military tactics and strategy, even though I never joined any army. I'm a history buff, and it makes history come alive. Only I didn't learn this tactic by reading about ancient armies prepping the battle field, or reading about their troop formations, or reading one of my all time favorites, Sun Tzu. I learned it by watching the Robotech and Macross cartoons.
I remembered a tactic called Fokker's Feint, named after a German WWI flying ace. In a nutshell - you're being chased. You gain speed but then slow down rapidly, before your opponent in the dogfight has a chance to respond. He zooms past you, you get behind, and now he's in your gunsights.
Since my car wasn't equipped with heat seeking missile launchers, lasers, or other cool accessories, just a CD player, shooting it down wasn't really an option.
Instead, a plan came together. The best part was, I realized that if it failed, they'd have no idea of what I was trying to do, so I had nothing to lose. Go big or go home! Or in this case probably directly to jail, not passing go and not collecting $200.
At the time, the 51 was under construction Well, lucky for me, this construction involved a long stretch of the 51 that was just ahead of me having no street lights at all. Also, there was an exit coming up - if I recall correctly it was somewhere between Northern and Bethany Home. I'm thinking Glendale, but as I mentioned, I wasn't exactly sober and this is going back a ways, so I don't recall.
Calculations going through my mind: I am going fast. (prob 90+). Helicopter going same speed. Tracked by helicopter with spotlight, which uses my headlights to tell where I am. Street lights which illuminate the freeway - off. I have one chance to do this right.
I sped up another 15 MPH so I was going past 100. Helicopter speeds up to follow, megaphone guy goes nuts, telling me to pull over. Then.... as I approach the freeway exit.... I turn off the car headlights, slam on the brakes, and pull off the exit. I watch as the helicopter zooms right past me, down the freeway. It then starts circling the freeway to figure out where I went - I watched, parked with my lights out in a parking lot right off the freeway.
My windows were rolled down and I'm pretty sure I heard helicopter guy drop the F bomb over the megaphone. I waited for the flying pigs to leave, then took city streets the rest of the way home, careful to drive the speed limit and obey all traffic laws.
Whew. -
Review from Kurdy S.
5/10/2011 131 Check-ins Here
This freeway is my primary route back home and also to get to certain lunch destinations such as the Biltmore area. Depending on the time of the year and day of the week, traffic varies from heavy to light. Despite that fact, it is my favorite freeway among the rest due to its scenic views of various desert landscaps, hills and mountains.
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Review from Amy D.
7/3/2008
I love the 51!
You can see Alice Cooper's house near the Glendale exit.
Even the cheesy pottery decorations make me smile.
I also love that I go opposite of rush hour traffic during rush hour.
Hey, man, I can't drive 55, let alone 45! -
Review from Fred M.
Phoenix, AZ
7/3/2008
I drive it every day, and I think it is a freeway.
Why are we reviewing freeways? This is lame, I'm leaving.
PS, yes it's good for kids... to play in. Wait, that was the 17.Listed in: Cars!
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Review from Robert A.
Phoenix, AZ
Updated - 12/20/2008
Thanks to the DPS (or maybe the Arizona Department of Revenue, snicker snicker), this and every other freeway in town sucks. Every two miles it's the same routine: drive by a speed camera, but not before you slam on your brakes because everybody acts like it's the first time they've ever seen it. MISERY.
It still gets two stars because it's close to my house.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/30/2008
I used to take the 51 to see my wife, who lived on the NE side of town. Now married and a NE… Read more »
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Review from Dr Steve B.
Phoenix, AZ
8/12/2010
It has lanes made of asphalt and they are distinguished by paint. For your health!
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Review from Thomas S.
Phoenix, AZ
10/13/2007 1 photo
I HEART THE 51 Freeway. Mind you I'm not a regular freeway user as my abode and my job are a few blocks apart. So it's somewhat of a novelty and not a daunting task. However today I had to get to N. Scottsdale and I hopped on the 51, top down on the Spyder, temps in the 70s, piercing blue sky above with whimsical whispy clouds, my fave 70s CD blaring and I even parted my hair down the middle and feathered it. Truly a tribute to all things 70s. As you head north on the 51 you are embraced by the mountains on both sides. Light traffic and a kinda heavy foot, put me in NoScot in no time. When I headed home, going south on the 51 as you crest the freeway at Northern Ave. I get one of my favorite urban views ever! A perfectly framed skyline from the Central corridor to downtown. Palm trees, church steeples and high priced homes dotting the landscape. But, it's the perfect weather and warm yet crisp wind blowing through my hair that made me smile from ear to ear. Now it's not quite the same exhiliration as the PCH from Malibu to Carmel...but then again, I don't live in Malibu do I? But it's really not a bad way to just be by yourself and appreciate our urban landsape and it's sometimes harmonious blend with mother nature.
