What's up with traffic (Seattle: insurance, homes, neighborhood)

[ukrkoz]

Hey Seattle




Anyone can explain LOGICALLY what is going on with Seattle Metro traffic?


It's middle of summer


Schools are all closed


People are supposed to be on vacations


WHY TRAFFIC IS WORSE THAN LATE FALL?



I'm in the area since 1993, I have never ever seen summer traffic like this. I noticed no lanes reductions. yes, construction everywhere, I get it, but they don't really interfere with normal commute hours.

[thatguy950]

It degrades yearly due to people flocking in, so expect this late fall to be worse than last late fall and the current summer

[Flightoficarus87]

Traffic has been progressively getting worse due to more cars/population growth. And although construction/highway project activity is kept to a minimum during peak commute hours, those definitely still effect traffic as a whole, especially with extra lane closures after peak hours.

Summer is also peak tourist season, which can add to traffic (i.e - even if people here leave for vacations, others come to visit).

Even for the people that aren't on vacation, they're more likely to drive into Seattle or nearby outdoor activities/concerts and such as the weather gets nice, and people want to go out and do things instead of being huddled up indoors all day winter-style.

Those are my $0.02 at least.

[CrazyDonkey]

I thought Seattle traffic was low during the week of July 4th (on a Wednesday). What you might be seeing is a rebound.

On the other hand, WSDOT has been repaving I-5, causing lane closures, backups, and diversion of traffic to other high/freeways, arterials, and backstreet shortcuts:

https://www.wsdot.com/traffic/traffi...=MAIN&action=3

[Diana Holbrook]

This is what they do on vacations... go to Seattle.

[homesinseattle]

People are being blinded by that odd sunny thing in the sky and aren't able to drive predictably.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

People are being blinded by that odd sunny thing in the sky and aren't able to drive predictably.

IT BURNS

[rjshae]

Traffic gets really clogged up when the Sounders and Mariners are playing at the same time. I can't imagine what it will be like once a professional hockey team starts playing at the Arena. What was the City Council thinking? Not their strong suit, it appears.

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

People are being blinded by that odd sunny thing in the sky and aren't able to drive predictably.

The only thing predictable about Seattle drivers is that they'll be bad/incompetent. There's a reason Seattle drivers are ranked nearly the worst in the country by insurance companies.

[NW4me]

Just got back from a very brief visit to Seattle, but from what I observed, the situation doesn't look good.
I rode the streetcar over to South Lake Union (probably the epicenter of the traffic mess?).
The streets were clogged with cars, several times the streetcar tracks were blocked,
and there was quite a bit of horn-honking. So clearly the neighborhood now has more people
than its infrastructure can serve. And yet there are more buildings under construction.
What happens when those are finished and occupied? It seems the city authorities just couldn't
say no to developers or Amazon. But how do they intend to get people in and out of
the neighborhood? The streetcar won't accomplish much; the way the tracks are arranged,
they're easily obstructed (and the line only goes to Westlake anyway). Probably a dedicated
busway would've worked better -- since SLU is becoming a second business hub, there has
to be a way to move people in and out of SLU from all over Seattle, and beyond.