The road remembered as empty may have been quiet only at the hour you used it.

Your picture of a place is built from the times you happened to be in it. A road driven at dawn stays empty in your mind, and you will offer that as a fact about the road rather than about your schedule. Everyone does this with streets, shops, and workplaces, then disagrees with people whose hours were different. Experience can be honest and partial at the same time.

Before describing somewhere as busy or quiet, add the hour you were there. When someone contradicts you, ask when they go rather than arguing about the place itself.