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October 30, 2012 at 8:10 pm #605388
mach1manMemberHello, I am writing to see if anyone else is upset about the recent lane changes on Delridge and Alaska creating bus only lanes on the right side of the streets. I have noticed that this is causing a great deal of extra traffic congestion. I am also questioning the need for these changes – and who is responsible for this waste of our taxpayer funds. I have never noticed that buses have had any trouble reaching their stops before. All this has done is made moving on these streets more time consuming and dangerous for drivers. One person turning left delays cars for blocks. Does anyone know who to contact about these changes. I think that anyone else who is dissatisfied with these changes should make their voices heard. Thanks, Brad
October 30, 2012 at 8:19 pm #775640
momoftwoboysMemberHi Brad, I agree with you about the traffic congestion. It takes a very long time to head west on Alaska from 35th during rush hour. Additionally, there appears to be a lot of swerving into lanes once people realize they are in a bus only lane. Specifically, I think getting from the middle lane at the light on 42nd to the right lane just before California Avenue is a major cluster and is an accident waiting to happen.
October 30, 2012 at 8:27 pm #775641
SmytheMemberTraffic is caused and exacerbated by the large number of single occupant vehicles on the road, not mass transit.
October 30, 2012 at 8:32 pm #775642
datamuseParticipantAlaska rechannelization first proposed February 2011, public comment period July 2011, final decision September 2011, work completed June 2012.
WSB coverage of public comments on Delridge rechannelization, further coverage of the plan, plan for south Delridge.
In both cases you should address your comments to SDOT.
October 30, 2012 at 8:35 pm #775643
funkietooParticipantHave to agree that the Alaska section from 35th through the Alaska Junctions if very inefficient; causes traffic jams and is an accident waiting to happen.
Additionally, this bus only lane has eliminated a tremendous amount of parking which is not ‘friendly’ for our local businesses. Lien Animal Clinic clients lost about 5-6 street parking options–which also impacts Chaco Canyon; the Alaska Junction merchants lost both sides of Alaska parking from Fauntleroy to California.
To lodge complaints, contact our King County Council member Joe McDermott and our King County Executive, Dow Constantine. They don’t know if you don’t tell them.
October 30, 2012 at 9:48 pm #775644
amaliaParticipantI’m very grateful for the bus lanes. Buses WITH UP TO 80 PEOPLE IN THEM shouldn’t have to wait for all those single-occupancy vehicles (SOV) to let them back into traffic (because most of them don’t, despite the legal obligation to do so). It’s also a plus for cyclists on Delridge, who can use the lane and are less at risk from SOV drivers intent only on getting themselves where they want to be.
Come on, try to tell me that SOV drivers aren’t a little self-centered when it comes to buses. They do NOT, in my opinion, deserve equal standing and consideration when compared to buses. To belabor the obvious, bus riders are doing a great service by taking cars off the road. If it slows down someone sitting alone in their car for a few minutes, well, those drivers can either pay the price to drive every day, or be more creative about how they get to work. Warning, though: buses and bikes take work and sacrifice, and are not for the lazy and/or self-centered!
October 30, 2012 at 11:01 pm #775645
kootchmanMemberIf you are a cubiclone, and have one destination during the workday, it’s fine. But a substantial number of folks have to be SOV because mobility during the day is essential to doing business. SOV ‘s are part of jobs and economics. It actually increases traffic. No parking and congestion…. SOV to a more distant destination. Who shops downtown anymore?
October 31, 2012 at 2:44 am #775646
littlebrowndogParticipantAmalia,I am one of those SOV drivers. Typical work day for me: Lake Stevens in the morning and then Olympia at 1pm. Another day Yelm. This morning Lynnwood at 7:30am, location 10.blocks from bus stop, carrying projector, laptop, handouts, manuals for a class I taught. Neither a bus nor a bicycle is an option for me. Move closer to my work? I work all around the state.
October 31, 2012 at 3:16 am #775647
SmytheMemberPeople will go on and on about how they “need” to drive but the fact of the matter is. If you’re sitting in traffic you are part of the problem. And it’s the result of choices you made.
October 31, 2012 at 3:38 am #775648
CaitParticipantSmythe – not being sympathetic to the needs of people who do a wide range of things for a living is not helping this conversation. Those lanes are unsafe with just two cars trying to make that maneuver. Or one car and one of those buses. It has absolutely nothing to do with volume, it just isn’t a point that you can back up with facts enough to justify telling people how to live their lives instead of just finding a solution that works for everyone. It’s just lazy thinking to think that everything would be better if people had your same values.
How about people with jobs like the one described above and many others? People with autoimmune problems who cannot risk being around that many germs? People with disabilities who cannot make it between bus stops for various reasons? You don’t get to pass judgement on everyone without thinking about every single person making that choice. Living on the earth should teach a person that, but I guess if belittling people is preferable.. I get it. It certainly must be more convenient.
October 31, 2012 at 3:41 am #775649
CaitParticipantAnd no matter how much you argue that SOV drivers are a part of the problem, it’s ridiculous to see a problem and not try to make it better no matter what arena of life.
October 31, 2012 at 4:13 am #775650
momoftwoboysMemberI wonder if Amalia or Smythe have young children whom they are responsible for getting to two different schools and one daycare before 8am in order to get to work by 8:30am in Bellevue. As Cait mentions, everyone has different circumstances. Stop judging people’s choices. Not everyone is sitting in their car because they are self-centered and lazy.
October 31, 2012 at 5:06 am #775651
hammerheadParticipantYes they are just horrible, especially when no buses are in them. A huge line of cars backed up taking up to 4 light changes just to get the junction. So now instead of doing a straight shot. I have to go all around west seattle to avoid that mess. Waste of time and gas. I can’t imaging sitting and idling is any better than more driving.
Again I take great offense to comments about being selfish, I run business and have at least 5 people in my truck. Then of course my rescue, can’t exactly haul 40 cats to get fixed on a bus now can I?
October 31, 2012 at 5:23 pm #775652
QueMember@hammerhead – I don’t know, I think it would be kind of awesome to see someone hauling 40 cats to get fixed on the bus. It would certainly make for an exciting commute story… ;-)
However, in all seriousness, I agree that some SOV drivers definitely have great reasons for driving instead of taking the bus. Multiple destinations, tight time constraints, cumbersome things to haul are all great reasons to drive.
October 31, 2012 at 9:26 pm #775653
QueenieParticipantYou know, every time I see comments like those from Smythe and Amalia, a little part of me hopes that an initiative eventually ends up on the ballot precludes taxes and fees charged to SOV drivers from being used on anything unrelated to SOVs. Like busses and bicycles, say. I say this even as someone who does bike and who’s husband doesn’t drive at all and only takes the bus. The current metro bus system would not exist without people driving cars. But I am absolutely tired of this attitude of regulating people’s behavior by making the experience of driving a car in Seattle as unpleasant as possible, and eventually what I expect will happen is that people who do drive cars, who I am pretty sure are the vast majority of people in this city, will get well and truly fed up and take steps themselves to curtail being both punished and used as a revenue stream.
Advocates of busses and bikes are doing their causes a great disservice by being so obnoxious. And yes, Alaska is a nightmare as a 1 lane street, especially with all the new development in that area. I have friends that live in the Link building there and they say there is no parking anywhere around there and a lot of the people in that building are parking their cars blocks away in the nearby residential area because it’s the only place that isn’t two hour parking.
October 31, 2012 at 10:04 pm #775654
WSBKeymasterJust to save someone else the trouble: It is a myth that bus riders and bicyclists do not pay taxes. If anyone wants to draw up the stock explanatory answer for this, please let me know and I’ll give it a link so we can bring it back around.
Many of them also own cars that they drive part of the time, and you have to pay the same license fee on a car you drive 1 day a week as on the car you drive 7 days a week. In addition, road funding comes from a variety of sources including a property tax that is paid by people regardless of whether they use cars, bicycles, feet, scooters, etc. “Bridging the Gap” is one such property-tax levy:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/BridgingtheGap.htm
There are a lot of other points I’ve seen but can’t take the time to rustle up right now.
And FWIW, not that it matters since the point of this is correcting a myth … I haven’t ridden a bike in years and our work does not lend itself to taking the bus, though every so often if I have to go downtown to cover a meeting or do research on a story, I take the water taxi, which is easier than dealing with parking garages and the bridge!
-TR
October 31, 2012 at 10:34 pm #775655
datamuseParticipantI’m from Washington D.C.
Trust me, Seattle hasn’t begun to see “as unpleasant as possible”.
(FWIW, I do ride a bike. I also drive a SOV 70 miles round trip five days a week and own my house in West Seattle on which I pay property taxes, so don’t even try to tell me I’m not paying my share for maintaining the roads.
Also FWIW, I’ve never found driving in the Junction a fun experience and generally have avoided doing so as much as possible for the past 13 years.)
October 31, 2012 at 11:59 pm #775656
skeeterParticipantamalia, do you take an infant to daycare on the way to work? I didn’t think so. Not all SOVs are carrying lazy and self-centered drivers.
I’m thankful for folks who take the bus. It helps everyone out. But not everyone in a car has the option of taking a bike or bus, and I think that should be respected too.
November 1, 2012 at 3:38 am #775657
dobroParticipantI didn’t realize that WSB meant Whiny Seattle Blog. Is there any traffic law or traffic routing decision that somebody won’t start a whinefest about? Personally,I don’t bike, don’t ride the bus, drive my car where I need to go and you know what the biggest traffic problem in Seattle is? Too many cars!!
I’m glad there are attempts to improve mass transit flow and if they ever got a chance to make it work, it could result in less cars on the road, making my own drivetime more pleasant. I’ve had no problem with the new lanes because once I saw how they worked I changed my routes during certain times of day. People who think they are being “punished” for driving cars because they have to pay some fees or deal with cyclists or buses or think they deserve street parking subsidized by the city should try moving to New York…or SF…or DC…or Chicago. We live in a city, you know. It ain’t Mayberry.
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