(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:20 AM: Good morning!
TRANSIT NOTE: The 7:05 am Route 55 didn’t run, per Metro.
STADIUM ZONE: The Mariners‘ final homestand continues, 7:10 tonight vs. Oakland, so the West Seattle Water Taxi runs into the late evening.
Alaska was backed up to 42nd. Only 5 cars were able to turn onto Faultenroy towards the bridge on a green light as it was backed up to the intersection. Normally leave at 6, but today at 7 and at 7:45 I’m not to I-5. No accidents or stalled cars
The NB99 bus lane is wreaking havoc – even for bus commuters. What an idiotic decision (yes, I have written).
This is the most congested commute I can remember. Traffic backed up into delegate, admiral, not to mention up the war zone that is 35th/Avalon. Took me 30 min to get from Gatewood on the bus to the bridge. something is not working here….
That bus lane….. 6:30 a.m. and traffic backed up from WSB/99N onwards. :(
Creating dedicated bus lanes to go around car congestion makes sense. But that is not what the new NB 99 bus lane does. It creates an unnecessary congestion point by requiring all of WS car traffic to immediately merge into two lanes on NB 99 causing back ups all the way back into West Seattle. After the painful merger, all traffic goes to 60 mph. I’ll bet bus traffic has actually slowed because the one lane NB loop now just inches along – which includes the buses.
Jeez, the West Seattle Bridge to 99 transition was going good there for a few months, until the bus lanes were put in and jammed up everything! Bad move. I hope they realize this concept (with the best intentions) has proven to be more harm than good and should be reversed. As people already point out, the issue is that lanes 1 and 2 have to trade places causing slowness in lane 3 as well. I get bus transit, but the lane returns to turn only a mile down, so it’s just a waste of car-per-lane sorting that needs to be removed.
Took me an hour and 20 minutes to get to UW Roosevelt this morning…Should take 25 minutes
Now that it’s been four days and the complaints seem fairly consistent, I’ve launched a followup inquiry, starting with WSDOT since it’s their road. Watch for a separate story.
Thank you for staying on this issue! Delridge and its feeder streets have been a mess this week.
And even though 99 is a WSDOT road, effects on city roads/streets/etc. (bridge and beyond) are where SDOT comes in, so if I haven’t already mentioned it again, SDOT’s director is at the West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting tonight …
https://westseattleblog.com/2019/09/thursday-sdot-sound-transit-west-seattle-transportation-coalition
Thanks for bringing it up WSB. Somewhat related…I’ve always wondered why on 99 NB the speed limit is 40mph (about Hinds, Horton, Hanford), then jumps to 50mph shortly thereafter (around Lander). Weird.
After a thorough analysis, I have to agree that in this case the bus lane impedes the flow of traffic for all concerned. I hope someone in charge has an open mind and will change it back. Sometimes the head honchos can be soooo stubborn, though, so I won’t hold my breath.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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