Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Morning commute is killing me!
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January 14, 2010 at 2:48 pm #686490
SmittyParticipantI agree with the original post. With unemployment so high I would expect some decrease in traffic. It doesn’t take much (maybe 10% reduction) for traffic to really thinout (see public school days off for an example). Something is going on. People who historically took 1st avenue and/or the lower bridge have come up to the big bridge or something. Maybe it’s an indirect result of all the construction under the Spokane Street viaduct?
As for the big bridge “merge” I’ve done a 180 over the last few years and now bypass the “cluster” and merge in at the top:
1) Everyone else does it so why should I suffer?
2) Even if you don’t let the “cheaters” merge someone in front of your will – and you’re still behind them!
3) The busses piss me off how they ramble to the bottom and then nose their way in – thus creating a “slinky effect” that ripples back to the rest of us.
January 14, 2010 at 2:57 pm #686491
SueParticipantSmitty, you complain that the buses cut into the line, but then say that you do it as well. Why is it okay for you, but not the bus (which is keeping many cars off the road)? Unless I’m misunderstanding your post, I’m confused.
January 14, 2010 at 3:56 pm #686492
velo_nutParticipantI’m just glad to have a commute again.
Upper Fauntleroy to the Westin Bldg… 15 minutes by car. The commute by bike as brilliant as well.
I do leave about 6:30 in the morning, though, but the times I have driven my wife to work I have seen the massive backups on the bridge. crazy.
January 14, 2010 at 4:13 pm #686493
JustSarahParticipantThis morning, 54X – 25 minutes from California & Fauntleroy to 3rd & Virginia. :-D
As for the merge, I agree with busser that it’s best to drive a bit past the Delridge on-ramp, which then allows the Delridge drivers time/space to merge to the left if needed. After that initial “clump,” merge right for the 99 exit. This really does make things much smoother for all.
Note that I’m talking about merging right immediately following the mass of Delridge drivers merging left; I’m not advocating driving far past the mess, to the crest of the bridge or farther, just to “cut” in line.
January 14, 2010 at 4:30 pm #686494
beaglenutMember“This morning, 54X – 25 minutes from California & Fauntleroy to 3rd & Virginia. :-D”
25 minutes this morning for me too! Maybe my rant worked hahaha.
January 14, 2010 at 4:42 pm #686495
mannamcParticipantI had no idea it takes so long to get downtown in the morning! It only takes me about 40 minutes to get to Redmond. Unfortunately, then I’m in Redmond…
January 17, 2010 at 1:53 am #686496
JohnsonMemberScrewed up traffic ain’t hte problem, it’s the solution.
this town ain’t big enough to have any sort of transportation policy, they only want an anti-car policy.
It wasn’t started by McGinn, but only intensified — any traffic changes are meant to make it harder to use a car, because anyone who use cars (be they old, feeble, fat, or in a suit) are evil, suspect people.
Taking a car lane out of Fauntleroy, as Nickels di, to appease the bike nazis means other streets are also overloaded.
All arterial street will be given stop signs to put at every corner to handle the situation
January 17, 2010 at 2:07 am #686497
velo_nutParticipantWTF is a “bike nazi”?
January 17, 2010 at 2:03 pm #686498
austinMemberI’ve done some research and all I could find was this
http://ninecents.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/simpsons-hitler.jpg
From what I’ve been able to tell the nazis didn’t actually much care for bikes; as it turns out they weren’t very good cyclists, the basis for their aversion. Training wheels were an early nazi invention, originally intended for adults. As the nazi movement progressed the post of “Fahrradnazi” (literally “bike nazi”) was created to document and track the civilian usage of bikes. Like the adult training wheel, the concept of taxation and licensing for bike usage was originally a nazi invention. The office of Fahrradnazi no longer exists today and the contemporary colloquial term “bike nazi” is usually a reference to a person who longs for a return to the days when cyclists were forced to either register and pay taxes for their bikes or hide them in their attics for fear they’d be removed to the countryside, never to be heard from again.
ex:
Bike Nazi: Get out of my way you worthless sub human! Streets are for taxpaying citizens in cars!
Austin: Ja, mein Führer.
(reference jpg at top for visual aid)
January 17, 2010 at 4:18 pm #686499
JustSarahParticipantAustin: LOVE. Thank you for making me laugh unreasonably loudly for 8:00 on a Sunday morning. :-D
January 17, 2010 at 5:24 pm #686500
JanSParticipantpriceless, priceless :D
January 28, 2010 at 11:16 pm #686501
NoraMemberMy boyfriend and I are thinking of moving to West Seattle, but I work in Bellevue and I’m concerned about the commute. Any advice or comments? I usually head to work around 7:30 and come back around 4:30, and we were looking at places in North Admiral or around the Fauntleroy ferry…
What can I expect?
January 29, 2010 at 9:42 pm #686502
AmandaLParticipantI have not noticed an increase in commute that is beyond the normal winter congestion. I did want to chime in that it still pretty much sucks. I am one of those folks coming out of Delridge every day on the 120.
The merge situation is horrible, scarey and incredibily dangerous. Who had the bright idea of a bus lane in the middle? really? Cars hit that lane and get scared to travel because it is bus only. They sit and wait for the 99 lane to open up. Mean while the bus is coming up and slams on the brakes sending standing passengers into the windsheild. Ugh!
Then there are the people that wait to merge at the top of the bridge and cut off the bus. Again, face plant into the windshield for the passengers. Do people not realize that the bus can’t stop quickly and people are standing and un-seatbelted? I have even seen children tossed out of seats.
I will put this out there…. buses should always get to ‘cut lines’. There is a bus fully loaded with commuters that are sucking it up and doing the public transportation. The very least Metro can do is ‘cut lines’ to avoid long commutes. If you want to cut lines so badly, try riding the bus next time. Otherwise, the single occupancy cars can kiss my bus butt!
Sorry for the rant, but public transportation isn’t going to get better unless we actually use it. If we are going to use it, then cars/trucks need to mind thier manners.
January 29, 2010 at 10:32 pm #686503
SmittyParticipantI think buses should get to cut, but I also think the current rules on the bus only lane are outdated.
People should be able to go to the top of the bridge where they can gauge their best option before committing to a lane. In the future, it would be nice to be able to choose between 99, 4th, 1st and I-5 and that is currently not (legally) possible.
People should be able to cross that lane but not drive in it. Kind of a tough one to enforce though!
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