Does the MAX go in Vancouver WA?

[Nell Plotts]

My son really likes this mass transit solution Bus Systems by Scania - scania.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7X21nI5YWs The MAX roadbed might be modifiable to accommodate these vehicles along I-5.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Yes, and in the meantime Vancouver area residents are forced to drive or bus to Portland and are caught in interminable traffic backups. There is just no room to add lanes to I-5 through Portland, widening that bridge won't fix the problem. The preliminary design of the new I-5 bridge did not provide for it opening to accommodate river traffic. Big oops. To design a new bridge that is high enough to provide passage will mean a grade that starts south of Marine Drive.

When the I-205 bridge was designed WA nixed light rail on that span as well.

I'd quibble with that underlined part just a bit. I think you could actually see some improvement if you could widen the road enough to create a curbed-off dedicated through-lane starting at the 405 interchange that didn't offer any exit until SR-500 or the 205 juncture with only a few entrance points into that lane in between.

A lot of the slow down comes from not just the heavy volume but the constant back and forth merging across at all the existing ramps (and then in between as cars in the right lane insert themselves in the left lanes to gain some minor advantage and thereby creates ripples in that flow).

No question the Vancouver peeps constitute a significant chunk of the volume, but having sat in that morass it's the number/structure of the entrance/exit ramps that really bog it down. Northbound things tend to open up by the north end of the bridge where things become a bit more normalized in the flow.

Though how you'd engineer something like that into the existing roads, IDK.

[Nell Plotts]

In the Bay Area they have carpool lanes and in Seattle there is a through lane on I-5 north of the city that changes direction with the commute.

The Bay Area carpool lanes enable drivers to 'buy' the right to travel in that lane. In our area the set-up cost of such a system wouldn't justify it, not to mention the politics.

I rather like the idea of a through lane that also accommodates trucks, it should be well used. I think that would eliminate a lot of lane changing in the most congested sections of the route. Build a low curb to separate that lane from the rest of traffic to discourage 'hoppers' but designed to permit a lane change in case of an accident, a relatively inexpensive install.

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by bler144

No question the Vancouver peeps constitute a significant chunk of the volume, but having sat in that morass it's the number/structure of the entrance/exit ramps that really bog it down. Northbound things tend to open up by the north end of the bridge where things become a bit more normalized in the flow.

IMO, having the SR-14 exit ramp right at the end of the bridge certainly does NOT help matters!

[bler144]

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

IMO, having the SR-14 exit ramp right at the end of the bridge certainly does NOT help matters!

Agree - and IIRC it's a pretty sharp angle for the speed with a wall there to punish mistakes. I think (from memory) where the road opens up is whatever point Jantzen Beach traffic is absorbed, and where SR-14 is queued up nicely, allowing everyone else to move more smoothly on with their own business.

[Nell Plotts]

It is getting there that is the time killer. Starts, basically, at exit 303 (Swan Island) from the south.

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by bler144

Agree - and IIRC it's a pretty sharp angle for the speed with a wall there to punish mistakes. I think (from memory) where the road opens up is whatever point Jantzen Beach traffic is absorbed, and where SR-14 is queued up nicely, allowing everyone else to move more smoothly on with their own business.

It seems to open up between SR-14 and Mill Plain, which always makes me wonder what the heck happened to all the cars to go from standstill to free-flowing in a snap. Alien abduction?

[bler144]

Originally Posted by NWGirl74

It seems to open up between SR-14 and Mill Plain, which always makes me wonder what the heck happened to all the cars to go from standstill to free-flowing in a snap. Alien abduction?

It's the overall reduction in cars getting off/on per mile. I think it's basically 6 miles from the 405 merge to the SR-14 exit, and in that span (inclusive) I think there are 7 on-ramps and 8 exits.

In a number of places the exit for the next interchange is only 500 or so feet from the prior on-ramp. It's the combination of that density (complicates merge flow) with the heavy volume already on the road.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Vancouver area residents are forced to drive or bus to Portland and are caught in interminable traffic backups. There is just no room to add lanes to I-5 through Portland, widening that bridge won't fix the problem.

Just imagine what it's going to be like after Portland's new development adds another million people to the metro like they're planning!

I think a lot of people think of Vancouver-Portland like I tended to - as all part of the same area, but they aren't and each state is likely to continue to make headaches for the other.