Beaverton to Downtown Vancouver (16 miles) 1 hour 45minutes (fit in, home)

[cyberous]

Yesterday I had to go to Beaverton from Downtown Vancouver. Getting there was not bad (30 minutes) as I left at 5:30 am.

I left Beaverton at 4:15 and got home at 6m. I hear traffic is bad but had no clue it was like this. I typically work from home or travel outside our state so my local traffic exposure is limited.

Just want to let others know if they are ever considering this commute.

[hml1976]

It's truly awful these days. When we first moved here in 2008 I used to pop over to Portland to shop all the time, I took my kids to omsi or the zoo often. We even considered private schools in Portland for our children. I volunteered for a nonprofit in NW Portland.

Now I avoid Portland unless we're doing something on the weekend. Rush hour seems to start at 2:30pm in the afternoon during the week and frankly life is too short.

[notnamed]

Yeah I would only make that commute off hours. Crazy here how short drives take so long. Used to being able to budget basically a mile a minute to get anywhere back in Ohio with lots of interstates and alternate routes to choose from.

[StealthRabbit]

Happy hour (There are plenty in Oregon) is much better spent relaxing, than in a traffic jam. But you need to go to the library for an hour if you have a HH that ends at 6PM.

Or you could have taken Germantown Road,

but... you probably took the 'triple hit.. 26 > I-405 > I-5

[texasdiver]

Took my kids to the zoo a couple weekends ago. We drove across the 205 bridge and parked at the Cascade Station mall (next to Ikea) and took the red line MAX all the way to the zoo. Probably not faster than driving, especially on weekends but we were impressed with the train and it was a relaxing way to cross Portland sans-auto. That's what I would do these days if I had to get to Beaverton during peak travel times.

[notnamed]

But the parking lot police will nab you for doing that heh.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by notnamed

But the parking lot police will nab you for doing that heh.

What parking lot police? I looked all over and there isn't a single sign stating the parking is restricted in any way to shoppers. Or time limited for that matter. There simply aren't any signs at all stating any kind of parking restrictions. At least that I could find and I looked pretty hard. The whole place is called "Cascade Station" implying connection to the light rail station. I also looked online at the Cascade Station web site and couldn't find any information about parking restrictions.

That said, you probably don't want to use the place for commuting park and ride because the stores don't open until 9 or 10 am so if you drop your car there at 6 or 7 am it will be noticed as the only one sitting there in the lot for hours. But after 9 am? The parking lot is busy and people are walking all over the place. How is anyone going to notice where you are going?

Of course you can drive a bit farther to the gateway park and ride center at the intersection of 205 and 84. Probably a better option because both the red and blue line trains pass there so you get twice the train frequency. I've never done that so I don't know what it is like and whether or not it fills up.

[pnwguy2]

The simple reason why traffic is so bad between Portland/Beaverton and Vancouver is I-5 was never expanded in any meaningful way from when it was constructed in the early 60's to today. Seriously, other than making room for a carpool lane, it is basically the same freeway that was originally built. I said this is the "simple" reason. Actually it isn't so simple, as the right of way for I-5 in North Portland is quite narrow, and we are beyond the days of eminent domain, so this constriction is real. Ever wonder why I-5 opens up when you get across the Interstate Bridge? Because I-5 is wider north of the border (and many get off at this point, admittedly).

The other part of the equation, though less of a factor, is no light rail into Vancouver. There are many to blame here, but bottom line it doesn't exist.

The Interstate Bridge expansion proposal is dead in the water at this point, but without expansion on I-5 south of there it wouldn't have done much good. And yes, I understand the dynamic of Washington not wanting to build light rail across it...(see above).

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Happy hour (There are plenty in Oregon) is much better spent relaxing, than in a traffic jam. But you need to go to the library for an hour if you have a HH that ends at 6PM.

Or you could have taken Germantown Road,

but... you probably took the 'triple hit.. 26 > I-405 > I-5

we used to do this when they were redoing 217 or 26, mid 80's. We were traveling from 185th/Intel areas to Salem. Eventually gave up when a new job took me out even further on 26.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

...
And yes, I understand the dynamic of Washington not wanting to build light rail across it...(see above).
...

At risk of opening this whole discussion again much of the light rail issue had to do with new right of way (just like road expansion) and what is not talked about is bridge height as light rail does not handle steep grades.