TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tuesday watch

Blinkyjoe October 15, 2019 (7:22 am)

Traffic much heavier this morning than yesterday, but still ‘seemed’ less chunky than the past weeks. Left Morgan jct at 0630 and arrived Bellevue 0655. I skipped the AWV to I5 north interchange and took 4th Ave up to Edgar Martinez blvd to get on I90 eastbound.

Woo hoo! October 15, 2019 (7:25 am)

99 North was better! I was able to get up to the speed limit before merging over. There is an “illegal to cross double white line” sign that some people still ignored and merged right away. Hopefully they will figure it out after a few days.

Brian October 15, 2019 (7:47 am)

Saw a first this morning: a motorcyclist splitting the lane while traffic was crawling (very cool and good) and then the car three or four spots ahead of me swerved into the lane to try to hit the motorcyclist who was splitting the lane (not cool and not good).

Colby October 15, 2019 (8:53 am)

Lane splitting is illegal.
- Wendell October 15, 2019 (10:45 am)
  
  Lane splitting is not legal in this state, but neither is vehicular homicide.
Jort October 15, 2019 (8:54 am)

“Cool and good” is not an applicable descriptor of these actions: both are illegal.
David Clarke October 15, 2019 (9:16 am)

Hey Brian – I’ve seen this before and wondered if it’s legal for motorcyclists to do this. Seems like they should have to follow the same traffic rules as the rest of us but then again, I’m not a biker so it may be fine for them to do this…..
smittytheclown October 15, 2019 (9:51 am)

Not good, but I don’t understand lane splitting. Don’t they eventually have to get back into a standard lane at some point thus indirectly impacting everyone behind them? Do we just assume when they decide to cut back in that space is ample?
- Fer October 15, 2019 (6:11 pm)
  
  Lane splitting is often not explicitly illegal, and it’s actually a good for congestion the way letting bikes squeeze by is. It lessens bottlenecks throughout. Often traffic is not one continuous tube but a series of bottlenecks. Motorcycles and bikes remove people from the bottlenecks more efficiently. If a car == 1 person and a motorcycle / bike == 1 person, being able to split allows more people through bottlenecks faster since two cars cannot occupy similar space like a car + bike can.
Azimuth October 15, 2019 (5:46 pm)

Lane splitting has had some legislative movement in Washington but is currently illegal (RCW 46.61.608). It is legal in California so that is probably the main reason it’s done here, though obviously that doesn’t make it right, and as a motorcyclist myself I think it’s a terrible idea. However, car drivers should never ever take it upon themselves to do what what Brian observed.
- Scott October 21, 2019 (11:41 am)
  
  Lane splitting is legal almost everywhere outside of North America for a reason.. it’s more efficient and safer by preventing motorcycles from being rear ended while you play on Facebook / drive. Whatever you do, never try to run over a motorcycle lane splitting to enforce the law… that’s attempted murder, lane splitting is a petty $124 ticket. The last guy who attempted to hit me on purpose had his side mirror involuntarily removed and a boot kick to the door.

Sarah October 15, 2019 (9:31 am)

Somehow managed to arrive a few mins early on the 21x this AM. The biggest pain point for me isn’t the 99 merge… it’s the crawl down 35th to Avalon. Takes a good 10 minutes to go 1 block some days… That project cannot end soon enough.

Mto October 15, 2019 (9:55 am)

Well .I see sam z adjusted the merge.What a bozo..Why cant wsdot just admit when they are wrong. It’s a fiasco. Just eliminate it.

mnw October 15, 2019 (10:08 am)

I left Morgan Junction around 8am this morning and didn’t notice any difference in commute time with the newly extended bus lane. There was still a huge line of traffic on the WS bridge waiting to get onto NB 99. Traffic for both buses and cars flowed much better without the bus lane. Why has SDOT not provided statistical data on why the decision was made to re-install the bus lane? I would also like to see a comparison of commute times for buses before the bus lane AND after that supports the idea that the new bus lane is actually making their ride times faster.

Joe Z October 15, 2019 (10:33 am)

The bus lane is for when the tunnel toll starts. The current situation is temporary.
- mnw October 15, 2019 (1:58 pm)
  
  Would it have been unreasonable for SDOT to have waited for tolling to start before making the decision to reinstate the bus lane? They could have monitored traffic to see if the amount of cars avoiding the tunnel is causing back ups in the Dearborn exit lane. Shouldn’t decisions be backed up by actual data that support them? Instead of speculating what “may” happen when tolling begins??? Why not wait and see?
Mto October 15, 2019 (10:41 am)

Because there isn’t any data that supports a bus lane!!.It’s a fool’s game of taking away our roads!.Sam Z needs to go
Nolan October 15, 2019 (3:09 pm)

“Why has SDOT not provided statistical data on why the decision was made to re-install the bus lane?” – because if they needed to pass every change to traffic management in Seattle past every citizen, nothing would get done. Also, they’re busy doing other things besides bending over backwards to fulfill the whims of individuals. This is a bad-faith appeal to the anti-transit audience and I think you know it.

TSurly October 15, 2019 (10:41 am)

Bike commute was extended today by the opening of the low bridge for a cargo ship just before 7 A.M. It took me an extra 10 MINUTES to get to work! How dare they interrupt MY commute and force ME to slow down! I will be sending emails to the Lisa Herbold, Joe McDermott, Patty Murray, Pramila Jayapal, Maria Cantwell, SDOT, WSDOT and Governor Inslee demanding that they right this situation so that MY life is not inconvenienced by this again. If they don’t do what I want and what fits MY commuting needs, vote them out or recall them!!!

Wheeler October 15, 2019 (11:23 am)

There is no bus lane on south bound 99 side after the downtown flow lane (Dearborn) enters 99. Buses and cars decide what lane is best for them and the traffic generally moves fast during rush hour. Weird that the north bound lanes somehow ‘needed’ a dedicated bus lane to keep cars out of, but the other side of the same highway does not – and moves fine.

Smittytheclown October 15, 2019 (12:46 pm)

Geez, don’t give the brainiacs any ideas! They are prone to taking things that work just fine and ruining them. Shsssssss…

Anu October 15, 2019 (3:30 pm)

I respectfully disagree with the people who are saying that traffic was flowing fine before the bus lane was installed. It was still bad. I take the 116/118/119 which don’t even get on 99, and even so, over the summer (since viaduct removal started), our bus was consistently taking 10-15 minutes longer to reach downtown everyday. It just got WAY WORSE once the bus lane was installed. Going back exactly to the way things were before, especially with the tolling coming up, is certainly not the solution. My only hope is that once the viaduct removal is done and we have Alaskan Way open to buses, that things will change.

Matt P October 15, 2019 (4:41 pm)

Will 116/118/119 switch to Alaska Way as well?
- Anu October 15, 2019 (10:12 pm)
  
  Hi Matt, As far as I know, the 116/118/119 won’t switch to Alaskan Way as those buses have never gotten on 99. But if everything else on the bridge and in West Seattle is flowing better, then those buses will also have it easier. At least that’s what I’m praying for!

curious October 15, 2019 (10:50 pm)

Does anyone know when will the 35th/Avalon intersection project be “finished” by?

Richard Maloney October 16, 2019 (8:04 am)

There’s a reason motorcycle insurance policies don’t cover first party bodily injury. Ridiculous choices by some riders assure that, given enough miles, catastrophe will strike.