Tag: traffic

Oh, the glories of Traffic!

Carl Setzer

Traffic, traffic, traffic…it’s been a heck of a week traffic-wise in our region. Been quite grateful for the reverse commute, let me tell you. Anyway, here’s some good info to make your travelling less woeful.

Snohomish County  Highway and construction Updates

Rain fouls up roadwork

Not only has the rain made commute times awful this past week, it’s also making it extremely difficult to complete a lot of the roadwork we had hoped to do. That includes reopening the ramp from eastbound SR 522 to eastbound US 2 in Monroe. Contractor crews closed the ramp in early September so they could finish work on the 179th Avenue Bridge. That work included everything from waterproofing the bridge deck to finishing the paving on and around it. We were prepared to wrap up the paving over the past week and a half. And then the skies opened up. And it rained, and rained and rained some more.

We don’t have a date for reopening the ramp at this point. We apologize for this delay and know it’s inconvenient, but drivers can still access US 2 by simply continuing straight on SR 522. Thank you again for your patience.

Video explains efforts to restore I-5 Skagit River Bridge

How did the I-5 Skagit River Bridge get repaired and traffic get restored so quickly? Hardworking crews put together temporary, then permanent spans in a matter of a few months. Supporting their efforts took a lot of cooperation from local, state and federal officials. The Federal Highway Administration put together an interesting video that talks about the response and what went into restoring I-5.

Major I-5 Seattle closure Friday night

If your plans Friday night include a trip into south Seattle, head’s up: A Seattle City Light project will close both directions of I-5 near Boeing Field, with lanes starting to close at 9 p.m. All lanes will reopen by 6 a.m. Saturday. Expect congestion as people move through the detours.

Speaking of Seattle, you’ll want to prepare for heavy traffic Saturday as a huge crowd will watch the Sounders claim the Supporter’s Shield with a win over the Los Angeles Galaxy at noon at CenturyLink Field. Also, the Husky football team will scorch Arizona State at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium, so expect significant congestion in the Montlake area.

Light reading for transportation wonks

If you’ve been looking for some light reading to pass the time on these wet and windy fall nights, you’re in luck. We recently published our annual Corridor Capacity Report. I don’t want to give away too much of the story (especially the surprise ending!), but it’s full of traffic trends, stats and figures. Some pretty interesting stuff in there.

Winter is coming

Winter isn’t just coming to Westeros, it’s also coming to our beautiful part of the country. Are you ready? It’s never too early to start preparing so read up on our tips for getting you and your car in shape so you aren’t caught out in the cold.

Road Healing Coming to I-5

Carl Setzer

Generally, the first response when seeing news like this: groans. Ugh, more roadwork! More snarls; slow, slow, slow! I try to think of the long-term with this stuff. Sometimes it works. But knowing that not doing this, not taking care of the preventive stuff only makes things worse. And, maybe, this will result in something better. A better, more wonderful life for us all. Well, one can dream…

New pavement preservation project begins on I-5 next week
A new pavement preservation project begins on I-5 in Seattle and Shoreline next week.
Beginning Aug. 11 contractor crews will start replacing more than 300 old, cracking and failing concrete panels that make up the I-5 roadway. The work is located between SR 104 at the King-Snohomish County line and Northeast 117th Street near Northgate. Crews will start in the southbound lanes and then work northbound. After the concrete panel work is done at the end of October, the crews are scheduled to start grinding the highway. The grinding will start no earlier than Nov. 1. The project will also add a new overhead electronic sign near Northeast 155th Street which will display travel times and messages. Durable, high visibility striping will be added in spring 2015. Thank you in advance for your patience as we begin this work that is so important to keeping commuters and freight moving on I-5.

 

Tracking Traffic : Thinking Ahead

Carl Setzer

When I was at Starbucks (in the Support Center in the SODO district of Seattle), I made it a point to monitor traffic “issues” (everything from construction to ball games) and developed a bit of fame for it. It was useful, though, as traffic down there was miserable (and I’m sure it’s not much better). In that spirit, I want to note that this week will be particularly fun for Seattle area folks. (Gory details on the DOT’s site)

  • Work on 520
  • Northbound I5 by Spokane Street
  • Northbound I5 by the Ship Canal
  • Southbound 99 from Denny to Spokane

My friends at the Washington Department of Transportation have some great ideas to help manage this, and the rest of summer’s construction season:

• Check the Seattle traffic page before hitting the road.

• Use travel alerts to get real-time information about blocking incidents.
• Download WSDOT’s mobile app.
• Follow @wsdot_traffic on Twitter.
• Call 5-1-1 for traffic updates.
• Check the What’s Happening Now page for updates.

Best of luck to you all. Stay ahead!

WA State Department of Transportation update for Snohomish County

Carl Setzer

I signed up for these email alerts some time back, and have greatly valued them. Thus, I share them with you, hoping you’ll gain valuable insight and the ability to manage your transportation needs.

Cheers! And, now, with no further adieu…..

 

WSDOT NEWS        Washington State Department of Transportation
Snohomish County  Highway and construction Updates – October 10, 2013

Daytime paving on SR 9
The weather is getting nastier and that means our construction crews are working against time.  For our SR 9 project, that means we’re making a huge push to get the stretch of highway from 212th Street Southeast to 176th Street Southeast widened to two lanes in each direction.  To do that, we’re going to need to pave during the daytime from Saturday, Oct. 12 to Friday, Oct. 18.  Crews will be laying asphalt as early as 8 a.m. on the weekend, 9 a.m. on weekdays and it could continue into the evening hours.

There will still be one lane in each direction open but drivers should prepare for traffic shifts from one side of the highway to the other and short-term closures of intersection side streets when no turns are allowed.  Also, there may be times when access to local business driveways is briefly blocked.

Why the daytime closures?  This kind of work is weather-dependent.  If you remember, September was the rainiest month in our state’s history, which pushed back most paving.  Now, our temps are dropping below 45 degrees at night and that makes asphalt cool too quickly to compact to the required standard, so we need to do it during the warmer daytime.  The good news is that once this asphalt work is complete, crews will temporarily stripe SR 9 to its final configuration, opening up two lanes of traffic in each direction in most areas of the work zone and that will significantly improve traffic in that area.

Prepare for nighttime SR 522 closures
If you’ll be out late in Monroe – and you know who you are – prepare for full closures of SR 522 from US 2 to 164th Street Southeast/Main Street a couple nights in the next week.  The closures will be 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. tonight (Thursday, Oct. 10) and Thursday, Oct. 17.  The US 2 ramps to SR 522 will also be closed and a signed detour will lead drivers around via Main Street, Fryelands Boulevard and US 2.

During tonight’s closure, the Snohomish County PUD will temporarily remove a power line so that crews working for WSDOT can install a noise wall in the area.  They’ll reinstall the line on Thursdaynight.  But don’t worry, there won’t be any loss of electricity during the work and the noise wall installation will happen during the day.  Also, SR 522 Fales/Echo Lake roads to 164th will also closemidnight to 4 a.m. Sunday to allow crews to move heavy equipment. A ll this is part of the SR 522 widening project, scheduled to be completed in late 2014.

Looking for feedback on I-90 tolling
We asked for your feedback and received thousands of comments during our initial outreach earlier this year for the proposal to toll I-90.  We gathered the suggestions we received from the public and other agencies and now we’re presenting a range of possible alternatives that could help us meet the purpose of tolling I-90: alleviate congestion across Lake Washington and help fund the remaining portion of the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program.  About $1.4 billion is needed to complete the I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project.

Through Nov. 6, we’re asking for the public’s feedback again to help inform our analysis on which alternatives could meet the purpose of the study. We’re considering alternatives in several categories, including tolling, state or regional taxes, mileage fees, federal funding and new highway capacity.  As part of this, we’re hosting three public meetings, starting tonight, Thursday, Oct. 10, in Bellevue and then Oct. 21 on Mercer Island and Oct. 23 in Seattle.  WSDOT and the Federal Highway Administration will be on hand to listen to public comments at each meeting.  If you’re interested in speaking at a meeting, you can sign up online or on a first-come, first-served basis at the start of each meeting.  If you can’t make it to a meeting, check out our website to learn more about the I-90 tolling project and how to provide your feedback.

Bellevue College
4 – 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10
Bellevue College cafeteria
3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue
Parking: Park in Lot 10 for easiest access to the cafeteria. Parking is free on campus after 3 p.m.

Stay plugged in
Projects are I-5 in Lynnwood/Shoreline, SR 529 at the Snohomish River Bridge and SR 531 in Arlington are all nearing completion though some of them require decent weather to finish.  Stay plugged in to all of the construction and maintenance closures by checking out our Snohomish County Construction Update or What’s Happening Now.

Questions, comments, suggestions, Halloween costume ideas?  Contact Mike Allende at allendm@wsdot.wa.gov.

Sno Co Traffic Update

Carl Setzer

Be forewarned, be prepared.

Full closure of SR 9 near Clearview next weekend
We really appreciate patience from folks as we hit the home stretch of the SR 9 widening project near Clearview.  The project is in a very weather-dependent stage right now as we try to finish the final paving in between rainstorms.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Next weekend, our contractor crews will close both directions of the roadway between 176th Street Southeast and 188th Street Southeast to install a signal bridge at the intersection of 180th Street Southeast.  Additionally, 180th will be closed between Snohomish Avenue and 83rd Avenue Southeast.  Drivers will follow a signed detour.Be sure to stay up to day with construction activities in the area by checking our Snohomish county construction update page.

Snohomish County Traffic Issues – Be Aware : Be Prepared

Carl Setzer

From the Washington State DOT. Some of this work will have significant impacts. Read on, dear reader, read on….

Westbound US 2 overpass opens Today

Snohomish residents have been anxiously watching the new US 2-Bickford Avenue overpass come together and your patience is about to pay off!  This morning, the new westbound overpass will open to drivers, and the eastbound on-and off-ramps will follow a bit later this month.   The new overpass will help reduce the risk of serious collisions by taking traffic over US 2, rather than across it. (ed: with all the issues with US 2 in recent years, this is a very welcome change).

Bickford Avenue is scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. today after being closed to help prepare the roadway for the opening.  Westbound US 2 from SR 9 to the new overpass will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Today through Tuesday morning, as will the ramp from SR 9 to westbound US 2, for some final work.  When you’ve had a chance to use the new overpass, let us know what you think!

SR 531 Arlington work continues
Crews continue to work to remove jarring bumps and cracked pavement on SR 531 from east of 43rd Avenue Northeast to just west of SR 9 in Arlington.  The overnight work has been noisy and we’ve had to do some full road closures, but drivers are already seeing smoother pavement and the work should be completed in the new few weeks, weather permitting.  The closures – which last from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. – will include 43rd Ave. to 59th Ave. (Tuesday to Wednesday), 43rd to 51st (Wednesday to Thursday) and 51st to 59th (Thursday to Friday) next week.  During that time they’ll be doing pavement repair, electrical work and paving.

SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge repair
The 60-year-old SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge is into its second week of repairs and southbound drivers out of Marysville should continue to use I-5 overnight.  The bridge will be closed from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. nightly Sunday to Friday to southbound traffic while crews replace heavy equipment needed to ensure that that drawspan functions correctly.  Southbound across the bridge will then be closed around-the-clock from 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 23.  The drawspan will not open to marine traffic during the closure times.

Driving & Seattle Culture

Carl Setzer

Two events yesterday drove home a key piece of Seattle culture. One: guy with Illinois plates driving maniacally through my line of cars, with extreme frustration clearly displayed. Two: freeway backup due to a car fire.

Item one demonstrated the laid back style of Seattle driving. No sense of hurry, nor urgency. This is visible at any stop sign, where we have the old Mac & Tosh routine. “No, after you. No, no…after you.” We often deal with paralysis by politeness. Polite-alysis?

With item two, we have the Seattle ogle. Now, this fire was dramatic: Corvette’s front end was gone, foam everywhere. But the firetrucks were long gone. Yet, traffic crawls by so we can all get a good look. Amen continues even after we’re well past. Craning their necks to keep it in view. Causes tons of accidents, all on its own. Funny, I guess.