BUILD Interstate 605 (Seattle) - Cascade Foothills Freeway (Redmond, Kirkland: house, transfer)

[revelated]

In my opinion, the answer isn't another major freeway north/south. It's fixing the current architecture despite people whining about views.

- There needs to be another bridge, optimally from Kirkland across to Northgate. NOT tolled. This would significantly lower traffic congestion in both directions because unfortunately, the bulk of people driving are college people, not working people. Giving them a way to get to and from the various universities can only help matters. It also prevents people from Kirkland from clogging the 405, and people coming from Seattle and heading north can bypass the blatant chokepoint that's there from the 520 N connector every morning.

- The 522 needs to be a 6 lane freeway with NO city streets. Just a constant, direct conduit to the 5. And no curving around the frickin lake either. MAKE. IT. STRAIGHT. Doing that small task would eliminate at least 15 minutes from a commute. Turn the newly opened area into a park-and-ride/bus terminal, charge money for it. This will allow Bothell traffic to more efficiently get across to the 5 without having to waste so much time.

- Redesign the 527 so it doesn't awkwardly curve around wetlands. Do bridges over them and KEEP. IT. STRAIGHT. It should connect directly into the 5. This allows Bothell/Mill Creek traffic to get to and from Lynnwood without wasting time driving north and getting stuck in the onramp from the 405.

- Change HOV onramps so that they have a prioritized light rather than letting them flow straight onto the freeway. Then setup cameras so that HOV violators can get ticketed. This will alleviate congestion as people start getting ticketed.

- Instead of wasting time with speed gun cops sitting on the 5 North, they should be driving along the freeway and ticketing traffic impedences. People who are driving 45 yet they have tons of room in front of them are delaying others, no matter what lane they're in. Get them off, get them a ticket for traffic impedence, and let the rest of the people flow.

- Build dedicated entry and exit points from all major offramps along the 5 and 405 for buses and carpools to get where they're going. Block off the express except at limited points so people can't cheat, and if they take the risk, have a cop there ready to nail them.

- Put a barricade along the lane just after Mercer St on 5 South that isolates people going to Mercer and Stewart/Denny from people going south. This will stop people who sit in the far right lane and drive slow even though they are going to the 90 or wherever. If they screw up and get stuck in the lane, tough, they have to drive back around and get back on the freeway until they learn not to sit in the far right lane and block offramps.

- Switch the entry point from the 5 South to the 520 from the left lane to the right, and curve it far around so that it goes under the 5 bridge. Block off the lane so that if you're going to the 520, you're isolated from people going 5 South. Tons of people take the 520 to the East every morning and sit in all three lanes until they're close to the tunnel (the bridge, basically), then they cram over at the last minute, causing illogical slowdown.

- Both the 405 and 5 should have a minimum of 8 lanes. No cramming down to 4 lanes, it's silly.

- In addition to the 8 lanes there should be at least 2 dedicated express lanes, where the GoodToGo pass can be used to optionally pay for the right to bypass traffic when it's bad. BUT the GoodToGo should have a per diem; no more than $8 charge in a given day. So if you take the full express from, say, Mill Creek all the way to the 520 and cross it, it will charge you $8 for the trip. This is consistent with what San Diego did, and the system works extremely well.

- More offramps on the 405, so that if there's an incident or just too many cars, people can take an early exit and take city streets. Coming from the South, once you hit Kirkland you're essentially screwed for the next 4 miles if you just need to hit Mill Creek, and that's where it's the worst - is the 522 connector. If you're going north, once you pass 527 you're screwed until you hit the 5, which is like 3-5 miles. Terrible. if you're coming from the 5 North to the 405 South and there's an accident you could be backed up for over an hour because there are NO offramps until you hit 527. That is inexcusable.



Lengthy, but my point is, we don't need another major freeway. They just need to get smarter about what we have. The Viaduct replacement should not be a priority IMO.

[RJ8089]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

I'd like to see the highway put on the east shore of Lake Sammmamish. That would allow all of the people from Sammamish to get to I-90 without funneling into Issaquah first. And it would allow folks from Issaquah to get up to Redmond a lot faster. 203 seems too far east to really help alleviate much traffic.

Or maybe that's a separate project.

Actually, the east shore of Lake Sammammish (probably didn't spell that right) was a possible route for I-605 at one time. It's a little too urbanized now unless they used the eminent domain law to move businesses.

[RJ8089]

As your traffic nightmares in Seattle continue, has the idea of the I-605 bypass freeway gotten brighter?

[Gardyloo]

I-605, like Franco, is still dead, and we're better off for it.

[Seattle4321]

This is what we need to do, build the new freeway I-605 make it continue from highway 18. I would like to see I-605 be able to have a little bit of new developement around 1-90 and maybe a little bit of new development in some areas. It would have 3 lanes 2 would be like a regular freeway but the 3rd lane would be a dedicated super fast threw lane. Also since the growth was very well controlled there won't be any traffic cause of a lot of the natural preserves that follow the freeway. It would connect back to I-5 north of marysville.

I-5 needs another general purpose lane Olympia to Everett and another lane will be a HOT lane. So there will be 5 general purpose lanes and 2 shared lanes that are HOV and HOT

[RJ8089]

3 years later from the start of this thread, and Seattle traffic nightmare continues. I-5 and I-405 are reaching capacity limits. Where is the I-605 bypass? Hello Olympia? Get off your rear and truly start addressing the capacity issues of your freeways.

Do you want this type of traffic like in L.A. on their I-405? See picture below.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by RJ8089

3 years later from the start of this thread, and Seattle traffic nightmare continues. I-5 and I-405 are reaching capacity limits. Where is the I-605 bypass? Hello Olympia? Get off your rear and truly start addressing the capacity issues of your freeways.

Do you want this type of traffic like in L.A. on their I-405? See picture below.

I'm not sure it would help going east to come back west again, plus that area floods periodically. If you live in the midwest why does it matter?

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

The article you linked showed the cost could be up to $19 billion. Unless you get the Canadians to pay for it, who's going to pay for it? And would the benefits of it really be worth it?

Most beltways were designed to go around cities. I can't think of a single one in the entire country that didn't ultimately encourage more suburban sprawl.

Exactly.

[mhays25]

A new freeway is a political non-starter. We're not that kind of city, metro, or state.

I'd fight it like hell, and be joined by an overwhelming mix of others. Most people don't want another sprawl engine. Freeways don't unjam growing cities. The anti-taxers would be helpful for once. And enviros would help lead. Not to mention a wide swath of opponents across the Eastside route whatever that would be.

[RJ8089]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I'm not sure it would help going east to come back west again, plus that area floods periodically. If you live in the midwest why does it matter?

Newsflash, I grew up in Seattle and have family there. So, I care. Plus, I'm American. Last time I checked Washington was a State of the U.S.....