Seattle Commute from Cle Elum / Ellensburg (Bellevue, Mercer Island: home, construction, living in)

[kobol]

Good Day,
I am thinking about leaving the Seattle area to move to the Cle Elum / Ellensburg area. I would have to commute to Seattle everyday for work. Could anyone share their experiences and thoughts on the daily commute to Seattle. Is it rough, hard, very long, carpools, vanpools, etc...

Thank You.

[scirocco22]

During the summer, without construction going on, the commute is actually quite "do-able" although if during the rush hour and hitting traffic from Issaquah into Seattle, it still is over a two hour drive. However, in the winter, it's gets really old fast. The three people that I once knew that did try to commute daily from the Ellensburg area, all had places to stay in the Seattle area in case the pass got bad. Having to slow down going through the pass with snow on the road extends that two hour drive into three hours or more sometimes and who wants to spend 6 hours a day commuting in the winter?

I don't know about van pools or car pools. We'll let others who may be doing it now respond but there's really not that many that are doing such a commute daily so I'm not so sure that there's that much of a demand for it. I'm sure that there are folks sharing rides coming in from that direction but it's not a huge number that are making the commute daily.

[wythors]

One of the gentlemen that I work with lives in Cle Elum and works here in downtown. He rents a room from a friend where he stays during the week and goes home on the weekends. In the winter, it would be unbearable and somedays impossible to commute on a daily basis. Snoqualmie pass gets heavy snow on a regular basis starting in early October and lasting all the way through April. Chains are often required and it is not uncommon for the pass to be shut down completely for hours at a time for avalanche control. I really can't imagine a less pleasant commute in the Seattle area than to fight foul weather for an hour and then sit in the I-90 backup through Issaquah, Bellevue, Mercer Island and then the bridge for another hour or better. Yuck!

[kc7wxy]

It can be done but prepare for long drives and a lot of wear and tear on you and your car. I did it for seventeen years. The can haulers will break your windshield ever year. You will be driving around truck drivers with attatudes and driving wreckless as hell. The snow in the winter makes an 1:20 min. trip up to 3 hours but most of the time you will be moving except for snow removal. Have a set of tires for winter with studs. The trip gets to be real long by Friday. Plan on $25 a day for fuel and a oil change every thirty days.
There are a lot of pluses living in Cle Elum and you better make sure the gains are worth it to you. Once you move to Cle Elum it's done you have to go everyday unless the pass is closed. When it is you will be spending the day digging out to the county road. Don't sweat the driving in snow as you will get real good at it and get so you can relax doing it.
I did it for 17 years but it really got on me the last few years so I sold out and now live in Tucson