Forum Index > Trail Talk > "Sultan Shindig" this weekend (Highway 2)
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Nancyann
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PostFri Jul 11, 2014 2:41 pm 
If you were thinking about coming up Hwy 2 tomorrow for a hike, come up early unless you enjoy sitting in miserable traffic headed to the Shindig. Not quite so bad on Sunday, but the traffic coming back from Eastern WA has been backing up in Sultan by 11:30 a.m. and will probably will be that way until after Labor Day.

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TheBearded1
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PostSun Jul 13, 2014 5:00 pm 
Backed up westbound from the west side of gold bar all the way through Monroe as of 2PM today, but it didn't appear to be anything other than the traffic lights causing it.

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jm31828
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 7:03 am 
I was in that traffic headed east- there was a big accident blocking both lanes just a couple miles west of Sultan that completely stopped traffic for almost an hour, so I think part of what you were seeing was the after effects of that. The accident happened at around 1:00 or 1:15.

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TheBearded1
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 9:22 am 
The sign said 1 days since last accident. Guess they hadn't reset it to 0 yet.

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jm31828
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 9:25 am 
Yeah, they reset it later in the day- it was bad, a complete parking lot all the way back to just east of Monroe, so cars were turning around and going back to Monroe, as we were. Several ambulances and police cars were headed over to the crash site, a trooper I talked to back in Monroe said it was pretty bad- I think 4 cars were involved, one person had life threatening injuries. Anyway we waited it out in Monroe and got back on the road after it was cleared out- we went to Deception Falls and on the way back at around 6:00, we saw the sign had been reset to 0 days.

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Sean T
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 9:33 am 
EVERY Sunday it's been horrific. From Index thru Sultan. So bad I got up at 4 this AM to come back. You would think they would put someone on a light to keep it moving. But judging from the people spending money along the way vs sitting it's probably a good thing.

"he is one of those wolf lovers and hides in the shadows". 32 Predators
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SKS
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 10:31 am 
Seven or eight years ago I went with my family to hike Wallace Falls. It turned out to be the same weekend as the Sultan Shindig. Bad idea. Traffic was backed up to the hill just after leaving Monroe. So even without any accidents to add to the pain it's good to have a heads-up about the event each year.

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Nancyann
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 11:40 am 
Sorry for the poor folks stuck in that ridiculous traffic. I would like to thank the courteous drivers who almost always leave room for me in my little green Honda Civic so I can turn up the Sultan Basin Rd to go home after running errands. Like I said in the OP, you can expect it to be awful on the weekends until after Labor Day. Monday thru Wed there is no one on the road, so go then if you can.

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joker
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 2:45 pm 
Traffic was not bad going east through town at around 10 yesterday morning, and the backup was surprisingly brief coming back west around 7PM. There's that one damn light in Sultan that seems to cause the bulk of the backups (aside from the fatal accidents etc. that also cause heinous jams) - if only they could either: 1) change the timing on the light so it favored that side road significantly less (I mean really, we let a major interstate be backed up for HOURS instead of hosing folks coming in from a lightly trafficked side road just a bit more??) or 2) turn that intersection into a roundabout (yes, I know many people hate them, but based on what I've seen with my own eyes and what I've heard from folks who actually do traffic flow analysis, a roundabout there would help keep the Highway 2 traffic moving w/o making things impossible for folks coming in from the side road [/rant]

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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 3:18 pm 
roundabout: +1 Maybe they think it's good for their towns, but I think they are wrong. As we were leaving my wife and I agreed to never recreate along US 2 again so long as we have a choice. There are so many beautiful places in this state that one could hike their entire lives and never have to drive in that wretched traffic. To folks who live along US 2: when drivers from downtown Seattle refuse to visit your area (read: spend their money in your town) because of traffic that means you have a problem. TL;DR: I won't be back in Summertime until they reroute US 2 or get rid of these intersections.

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pipedream
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 4:32 pm 
If I had a dollar for every hour of my life I've wasted not moving on US-2 westbound between Skykomish and Monroe... There was the time a bus heading over to Leavenworth for some shiny winter lights festival spun out on the turn at Index and a handful of cars slammed into it. Or that time a tree knocked some power lines down in Baring and set a hillside on fire. And that time a car full of highschool kids failed to negotiate a turn and ended-up in the drink. And that time a truck took out the guardrail on the turn next to Boulder Drop. How about the two months that the Stevens Pass ski area was open but The Summit at Snoqualmie wasn't? Or the time an unsecured camping trailer jackknifed between Sultan and Monroe and disintegrated in the roadway. Oh wait, all of these have been in the past THREE years and there have been many more before that eek.gif Of course, if it weren't for the shitshow that was US-2, I wouldn't ever have had the chance to tell someone nonchalantly that the dried blood on my hands wasn't mine and not to worry about it. I also wouldn't have flashbacks to the time I passed a Subaru while it was skidding sideways only to watch it disintegrate in my rearview mirror when it slammed into the tractor trailer behind me.

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Nancyann
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PostMon Jul 14, 2014 6:11 pm 
I absolutely agree with joker that we need roundabouts at both those intersections. I would love having access from the Sultan Basin Rd to Hwy 2 via roundabout. One problem with the next light (Mann Rd and the bridge) is that there is a railroad crossing there and there have been several pedestrian and car fatalities there, complicating planning.

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Nancyann
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PostWed Jul 08, 2015 6:15 pm 
Heads up for anyone planning on driving up Highway 2 past Monroe this Friday, Saturday and even Sunday. It's that time again. biggrin.gif

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Yee Haw!
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Yee Haw!
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PostWed Jul 08, 2015 6:22 pm 
I had to do a little research to see what the Shindig actually was

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boot up
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boot up
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PostWed Jul 08, 2015 6:23 pm 
Yee Haw! wrote:
I had to do a little research to see what the Shindig actually was
It is a guaranteed nightmare traffic jam for hikers, is all you need to know. I have been caught in it for hours in a previous year.

friluftsliv
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