Figuring out Eastside (or generally Seattle-area) traffic impacts on commute (Redmond: neighborhoods, buying)

[Garfunkle524]

My wife and I are about to embark on our first-time home-buying journey and I'm looking for some advice.

I'll probably be inundating this board with questions over the next few months so please take it as a compliment! Tons of knowledgeable people here.

Anyway, it's no secret that traffic can be pretty horrific here. As we begin to scope out neighborhoods on the east side, commute times are going to be a major concern. She commutes to Seattle and I commute to way north Kirkland. What tools and strategies are out there (aside from physically driving commutes for a while) to help quantify the effects of traffic congestion on each of our commutes? We'll probably be looking at a range of neighborhoods so ideally we could find some sort of tool that would help us figure out what kind of traffic impact there would be when commuting to/from many different locations.

I have used Google Maps' predictive traffic map and found that the accuracy is really hit or miss. Any advice? Perhaps anything you learned while you were in our shoes?

[Inkpoe]

Have you used the DOT cameras? WSDOT - Seattle Washington Cameras

[Hemlock140]

You can double the Google Map times and be pretty close. The 520 bridge is not as bad now that there's a toll, I90 starts getting bad at 6:30am and again at about 3pm. The worst is 405, pretty bad all day long but barely moving most of the commute times. Where in Seattle where she work? That will make a big difference. I'm in Sammamish and work on the waterfront so could go either way, but take the bus via Issaquah and I90. For you working in Kirkland one would think 520 would be better for her but if she is at the south end of Seattle that adds a horrible commute down I5 through downtown.

[Garfunkle524]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

You can double the Google Map times and be pretty close. The 520 bridge is not as bad now that there's a toll, I90 starts getting bad at 6:30am and again at about 3pm. The worst is 405, pretty bad all day long but barely moving most of the commute times. Where in Seattle where she work? That will make a big difference. I'm in Sammamish and work on the waterfront so could go either way, but take the bus via Issaquah and I90. For you working in Kirkland one would think 520 would be better for her but if she is at the south end of Seattle that adds a horrible commute down I5 through downtown.

Good call Hemlock. She's near the university and currently takes 520 (we live in Kirkland currently). Minimizing 405 travel distance in some spots seems like a good idea. I hear people who have to go anywhere near the 405-90 interchange complain about it very often so those southern neighborhoods are disqualified from our consideration. How is traffic coming in and out of Sammammish on any given week day? The "major" roads in and out of Sammammish don't give reliable traffic data since they're not highways. I'd hate to find a great place in Sammammish and deal with New-Issaquah-Highlands caliber traffic every morning simply because we didn't drive through it on a weekday at 730am.

We've also had suggestions of Bothell, Woodinville, and further north. I think we'd both be commuting with the heaviest traffic in that case (north->south in the morning) which could make it tough.

[Hemlock140]

From Sammamish, especially if in the north (Sahalee/Timberline end) you have two ways in and out, Inglewood Hill to East Lake Sammamish Parkway (ELSP), and Sahalee Way to 202 (Redmond-Fall City Road). Yes, it will be congested at commute times but is still not anywhere close to the gridlock that other areas have. Slow moving, at worst, most of the time. ELSP is worse now in the summer with the new little park the City put in on the water with no parking lot, so we use 202 then. Going down to I90 at the south end is worse now with Issaquah Highlands continuing to expand. Go tho the City of Sammamish website, they have traffic cameras on both ELSP and Sahalee Way.