eastside commute question (Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Island: neighborhoods, living, public transportation)

[christiner81]

Roughly how many miles from downtown bellevue would translate into ~30 min commute? Is there a general direction/flow of traffic that would be best to avoid or does the direction not really matter?

What about from north seattle (ballard area) to Bellevue over the Evergreen Point bridge - what would that commute look like?

[amaiunmei]

Originally Posted by christiner81

Roughly how many miles from downtown bellevue would translate into ~30 min commute? Is there a general direction/flow of traffic that would be best to avoid or does the direction not really matter?

What about from north seattle (ballard area) to Bellevue over the Evergreen Point bridge - what would that commute look like?

I-90 and 520 both go over water, so if everything works out, you have a smooth commute. The problem is, everything has to work out for you to have a good commute, and that happens ... oh, about half the time? All it takes is one accident to gum up traffic for MILES.

I used to work in the area near the stadiums. Taking I-90 to Bellevue in the evening (around 6 pm) took about 15-20 minutes on a good day. If there was an accident near Mercer Island or near 405, though, things could easily take an hour. That happened about once a month.

Same with 520: the route between Ballard and Bellevue can take about 30 minutes with no traffic, but can take over an hour with traffic. You have to drive through VERY high-traffic neighborhoods (Wallingford, Fremont, and/or the U-District) to get to the 520 and getting all of that to work can be nigh impossible during commuting hours. Also, if you approach 520 from I-5, note that the traffic stacks up badly at the Montlake exit as people are exiting to avoid the toll. The traffic on 520 is consistently awful more often, so you may want to consider taking I-90 (which is not tolled ... for now).

[Seacove]

Your question is not an easy one because it so depends on where from. If you're crossing a bridge, the time really increases. Here is one site that might help by watching it during the week to see the traffic patterns and where it clogs up. Seattle Area Traffic Cameras | Cameras | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

Someone more familiar with commuting from Ballard can tell you their estimate but if your job is in Bellevue, it's probably going to be easiest to live on the Eastside, just directly across one of the bridges in Seattle (and even that could have longer than 30 minute commutes on some days) or on Mercer Island. I do not think it's possible to commute from Ballard to Bellevue in 30 minutes on a weekday morning.

[amaiunmei]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Your question is not an easy one because it so depends on where from. If you're crossing a bridge, the time really increases. Here is one site that might help by watching it during the week to see the traffic patterns and where it clogs up. Seattle Area Traffic Cameras | Cameras | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

Someone more familiar with commuting from Ballard can tell you their estimate but if your job is in Bellevue, it's probably going to be easiest to live on the Eastside, just directly across one of the bridges in Seattle (and even that could have longer than 30 minute commutes on some days) or on Mercer Island. I do not think it's possible to commute from Ballard to Bellevue in 30 minutes on a weekday morning.

It's possible suuuuuuuuper early in the morning (4 to 5 am), but yeah, it's not likely to get a 30 minute commute between Ballard and Bellevue often.

[christiner81]

Thanks guys! I will check out the site above during the week. In Portland people generally emphasize living close to where you work to minimize traffic issues. Would you say that is that the case for Seattle as well?

[Hemlock140]

I had a business in Bellevue for 16 years, and at 5:00pm it can take 30 minutes just to get to the freeway, depending on where you are there. We mad it from Ballard to Bellevue in 20 minutes last night at 8pm, and have done the reverse in that time at 6am, but once you get into the commute hours of 6-9am and 3-7pm it doubles or worse. I still haven't figure out why the afternoon commute is always far more congested and lasts longer compared to the morning.

[poopskooper]

Originally Posted by christiner81

Thanks guys! I will check out the site above during the week. In Portland people generally emphasize living close to where you work to minimize traffic issues. Would you say that is that the case for Seattle as well?

In my opinion, traffic is substantially worse in the Seattle area than in the Portland area (and you know how bad it is in Portland) so, yes, live as close to work as possible unless you plan to take public transportation and can get some work done while sitting in traffic on the bus.

[Kalex]

I have a coworker who took 520 to get to our office in Bellevue from Seattle, and she said if she kept normal hours -8-5- it took her over an hour each way. she worked 7-4 instead and said it was still bad, just not as much. She moved to Leschi so she could take 90, which was slightly better. We live in Issaquah and it's 30 minutes or less to Bellevue at rush hour. neighborhoods north of Bellevue take much longer to get down there bc of all the traffic coming in to Microsoft.

[christiner81]

Originally Posted by Kalex

I have a coworker who took 520 to get to our office in Bellevue from Seattle, and she said if she kept normal hours -8-5- it took her over an hour each way. she worked 7-4 instead and said it was still bad, just not as much. She moved to Leschi so she could take 90, which was slightly better. We live in Issaquah and it's 30 minutes or less to Bellevue at rush hour. neighborhoods north of Bellevue take much longer to get down there bc of all the traffic coming in to Microsoft.

ah that is good information! thanks