The real issue here is the queue of cars waiting to get on the freeway. Any street that crosses a major freeway and offers an onramp can be backed up for miles

The real issue here is the queue of cars waiting to get on the freeway. Any street that crosses a major freeway and offers an onramp can be backed up for miles in both directions. Synchronized lights may help with purely street-level congestion, but increasing throughput on the freeways is what will really clear the streets. I've clocked travel times of anywhere from 1-1.5 hours to go 8 miles, and all of the wait was due to congestion at the onramp.