Commute from Seattle to Bellevue (Sammamish: living in, stadiums, nurse)

[Underthemoonicp6]

I am interested in taking a 3 month work assignment as a travel nurse starting in December at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue. I'm also interested in living in Belltown. The issue is that I'm normally a night shifter but will be doing days for this assignment which means clocked in and ready to go by 7AM. I'm not exactly an early riser (work night shift for a reason). How long of a commute will it be this time of day?

[Jim_a49]

Why would you want to live in Belltown, Bellevue is much nicer.

I live in Bellevue and avoid anywhere downtown seattle.

[mike62pp3]

You will likely avoid a lot of traffic going the opposite direction, especially if you're in at 7am. My wife commuted from Interbay/QA to Bellevue (off 148th) in 30min. From 6-7am there is very light traffic, however going back the other direction in the evening was a nightmare (most of the time it was an hour commute). We now live in downtown Bellevue and both our commutes are 10min and our lives are never the same, it's night and day.

I'd also recommend living close to work if there's a chance this will turn into a permanent situation.

[BellevueNative]

Originally Posted by mike62pp3

You will likely avoid a lot of traffic going the opposite direction, especially if you're in at 7am. My wife commuted from Interbay/QA to Bellevue (off 148th) in 30min. From 6-7am there is very light traffic, however going back the other direction in the evening was a nightmare (most of the time it was an hour commute). We now live in downtown Bellevue and both our commutes are 10min and our lives are never the same, it's night and day.

I'd also recommend living close to work if there's a chance this will turn into a permanent situation.

Was that before or after the 520 toll? Traffic is much less since the toll took effect.

[Hemlock140]

I work near Belltown and commute from Sammamish, but in the past I often would go from a previous workplace at Lake Bellevue (near Overlake) to downtown and back in 45 minutes, stopping only long enough to drop off something. The traffic is heavier into Seattle than the way you will be going but not bad either way before about 6:30. I'd be surprised it it takes more than 20 minutes if you take the 99 Viaduct entrance on Elliot, to I90 at the stadiums, then 405 north to NE 8th.

[mike62pp3]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

Was that before or after the 520 toll? Traffic is much less since the toll took effect.

After the toll went in the traffic did die down a bit but after a while it eventually evened out. On a no-traffic morning, you can probably get from downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue in 20min.

[mike62pp3]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I'd be surprised it it takes more than 20 minutes if you take the 99 Viaduct entrance on Elliot, to I90 at the stadiums, then 405 north to NE 8th.

Or, if you're closer to Broad St. you can take it to Mercer onto I5 North and take 520 East. Overtake is at the top of downtown Bellevue and close to 520. Both options would be a 20-25min commute with no traffic.

[Underthemoonicp6]

How long does rush hour last leaving Seattle? If I'm living in Seattle and leaving for work at around 6:20PM or so, would I be able to get to Overlake by 7PM or would I still be hitting heavy traffic from people leaving the work day in Seattle?