Typical Commute Time and Area Advice (rated, bike, commuting)

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by psichick

(how do you even know if they are highways, interstates, etc? sheesh. gotta learn a new language).

I-5, I-84 and I-205 are all Interstates.

The commute will really depend on the time of day. On occasion, I commute from Tigard to Vancouver on the above mentioned freeways. I have to be to work at 7:00 so I leave there around 6:15 to give myself plenty of time. At that time of morning, it takes me just over 1/2 hour.

[Twilighter]

Originally Posted by psichick

I am in LO, near the 5 (yes yes, still need to figure out how you guys say the freeways w/o "the"). So, directions has me take the 5N to the 84E. Workplace is before the 84 hits the 205.

You'll have to cross the river at some point. The most practical routes would probably be I5, I205, the Sellwood bridge, or the Ross Island bridge.
I dislike driving on I5 because I have yet to be able to map in my head which side my exit is going to be on, or where the freeway is going to fork, etc, and especially as a newcomer I ended up dumped downtown on my way to somewhere else several times (I have reasons to dislike driving downtown, especially if one doesn't know the layout or street names.)

Others can correct if I am wrong but I don't think driving the surface streets to take the Sellwood or Ross Island bridges would save you any time.

In your shoes, I would choose to take one of a few routes on surface streets through LO to get on I205 north.

[Sondeera]

Slight tangent: so what are we supposed to say when talking about the freeways. Instead of "The 205" "I-205" or just "205"??? I'm confused. I meant to ask my cousins when they were down this weekend for a family reunion but I was too caught up on the fact that I'm going to be stuck with a 3 foot fence, an electric stove, and an electric dryer because you folks have some invisible vendetta against natural gas.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

You will be doing a reverse commute on I-84 but in the thick of the commute on I-5 until the I-5/84 junction. 20 minute drive? Not unless you are traveling well above the speed limit with virtually no traffic.

If you are convenient to Stafford Road or O-43 (Willamette Drive) try I-205 (or I-5s to 205) as an alternate route.

Initially I would allow 45 minutes, it will take you a while to determine which route works best for the hours you travel.

Thanks. The 20 mins was no traffic from Google Maps. I'm just repeating what they say. Looks like I'm on the wrong side of LO. Ugh! Not close to O-43 nor I-205, but I can drive across LO to get there.

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

I-5, I-84 and I-205 are all Interstates.

The commute will really depend on the time of day. On occasion, I commute from Tigard to Vancouver on the above mentioned freeways. I have to be to work at 7:00 so I leave there around 6:15 to give myself plenty of time. At that time of morning, it takes me just over 1/2 hour.

Good point about time of day. I have no idea what my hours would be. I just assumed a typical 8-5 day. I think I'll find out. Not bad for AM and probably not a lot of traffic from Tigard to Vancouver. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Twilighter

You'll have to cross the river at some point. The most practical routes would probably be I5, I205, the Sellwood bridge, or the Ross Island bridge.
I dislike driving on I5 because I have yet to be able to map in my head which side my exit is going to be on, or where the freeway is going to fork, etc, and especially as a newcomer I ended up dumped downtown on my way to somewhere else several times (I have reasons to dislike driving downtown, especially if one doesn't know the layout or street names.)

Others can correct if I am wrong but I don't think driving the surface streets to take the Sellwood or Ross Island bridges would save you any time.

In your shoes, I would choose to take one of a few routes on surface streets through LO to get on I205 north.

Oy. Bridges. Forgot about those. Gonna have to learn the names of those suckers too. Does the I-205 have a lot of traffic? I'm wondering if it'd be better to just cut across LO (I'll be closer to I-5 - getting the hang of it) versus hitting downtown and bridges.

Thanks. Looks like if I get this job, it's going to be a lot of trial and error, but hopefully none that cause me to be super late.

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Sondeera

Slight tangent: so what are we supposed to say when talking about the freeways. Instead of "The 205" "I-205" or just "205"??? I'm confused. I meant to ask my cousins when they were down this weekend for a family reunion but I was too caught up on the fact that I'm going to be stuck with a 3 foot fence, an electric stove, and an electric dryer because you folks have some invisible vendetta against natural gas.

People do say "the" when referring to the freeways, but they are usually pegged as So Cal transplants since that's a uniquely So Cal thing to say. I don't think even Bay Area Californians use "the" when referring to their freeways.

If it's one of the interstates, it's I-5, I-84, I-205, I-405. Then it's Highway 26, Highway 217. 99W and 99E are just that--99W and 99E. And you never say the numbers for some of the surface streets that are numbered. For example, although Powell is Highway 26, you never call it "Highway 26" until you are out to Gresham or beyond. Then it becomes "Highway 26." Another example: Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway/Farmington Road is also OR-10, but it's never called "Highway 10."

So you might take 99W north to Highway 217 to Highway 26 to go from Sherwood to Hillsboro. Or take I-5 from Salem to I-205 to get to the Portland Airport.

[oldtintype]

I just say I'm going to take 205 or I'm going to take 5, 84, etc.

[Kestrelle]

Putting a plug in for Beaverton......nice town, great downtown area, plenty of apartment choices (with pets), and the commute into Portland on MAX is a cinch.

[NWGirl74]

What confused me when I first moved here was people kept telling me to take "the Banfield," which is I-84. I usually refer to them as I-5, 84, 405 and 205. The Interstate Bridge crosses the Columbia on I-5. The Glen Jackson Bridge is on the 205 side.

As for traffic on 205, the last two times I've gone into Portland after work (3:00 on a Friday and 5:30 on a Tuesday), it took 1/2 hr to get from Airport Way to the exit for 84 W. If I don't hit traffic just right on I-5 S, it can easily take an hour to get from Vancouver to downtown Portland during rush hour.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

What confused me when I first moved here was people kept telling me to take "the Banfield," which is I-84.

It seems like we've slowly stopped using all the Freeway names. When I was a kid, it was The Banfield, The Sunset, Minnesota, etc. Now days we barely ever hear that.

[EnricoV]

Everyone I know still refers to them as the Banfield and Sunset. Minnesota must have been before my time. Even my folks (in their 80s) never refer to it as that.