Forum Index > Trail Talk > US HWY 2 Sunday evenings
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
joker
seeker



Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 7953 | TRs | Pics
Location: state of confusion
joker
seeker
PostWed Aug 19, 2020 3:02 pm 
Chief Joseph wrote:
True, they would help. They seem to put those in some places where they aren't needed and not in others areas where they are.
The ones they put near my house helped a TON with rush hour traffic. Even though traffic has increased a LOT since they were put in, the backups at those intersections is nothing like it used to be during morning or evening rush hours. I would love to see one go in by the gas station on the west side of Sultan, but am not holding my breath. Whenever the bad traffic jams are NOT due to an accident, the traffic always picks up westbound just past that light.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kim Brown
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
Kim Brown
Member
PostWed Aug 19, 2020 4:33 pm 
It's not all about hikers. I think they may want at least one light for locals to better get around their own community. Some people just aren't good at negotiating round a bouts, and may prefer to travel to a lighted intersection than play chicken with a highway full of people in a hurry. Then there's the pedestrian-factor. They need traffic lights as well. I don't recall what the entire plan was/is for that corridor, but it sure is better now than it was pre-roundabouts.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
dixon
Member
Member


Joined: 24 Apr 2020
Posts: 176 | TRs | Pics
dixon
Member
PostWed Aug 19, 2020 8:29 pm 
treeswarper wrote:
Too many people have moved to this state.
Theres an interesting video on the "Best places to move in 2020" on YouTube and Seattle was ranked #1, apparently 28,500 folks 21-29 moved to the greater Seattle area in 2019 and likely the same or an increase this year. Assuming the worst case that ~50% of this cohort is interested in outdoors, fitness etc (not likely since 'Outdoors' was cited as the main reason for moving) and of these, half are hikers, thats still ~7000 additional hitting the trails, roads etc each weekend since the majority of society is stuck in a 5 day work loop. Seems like a major investment in infrastructure is needed but little signs of it. On the road topic, did you folks hear about the I-90 bridge that partially collapsed at Exit 62 a few days ago? The King 5 reporter asked the WS-DOT rep why they hadn't repaired it months ago and she stated that they kept patching it up with concrete and it "seemed stable". Its unfathomable to me how poor the infrastructure is in the US compared to Canada and Europe, it's like we just let it rot until it's completely done. The surface on I-5 that runs through Seattle is apparently the original surface from the 1960's! We think we have 'lower' taxes than Europe but in reality we don't and get less for our sacrifice.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostWed Aug 19, 2020 9:13 pm 
The funny thing about all these folks moving to Seattle is that they must not realize that Seattle itself is dying.😒 So they take roots in the ' burbs ( closer to ' our' beloved hills and lakes)....or they move to that horrible, awful town that begins with B, and it isn't Bellevue, Bothel, Burien, or even Black Diamond. hockeygrin.gif

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
joker
seeker



Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 7953 | TRs | Pics
Location: state of confusion
joker
seeker
PostWed Aug 19, 2020 9:52 pm 
Kim Brown wrote:
It's not all about hikers. I think they may want at least one light for locals to better get around their own community. Some people just aren't good at negotiating round a bouts, and may prefer to travel to a lighted intersection than play chicken with a highway full of people in a hurry. Then there's the pedestrian-factor. They need traffic lights as well. I don't recall what the entire plan was/is for that corridor, but it sure is better now than it was pre-roundabouts.
There aren't a lot of pedestrians at the gas station intersection. There aren't any houses for a ways up the side road and it's not an awesome walking road. I'm off a side road that connects to very busy 202 via a roundabout and I can assure you us locals get around our local community much better than before (and there are a TON of pedestrians using the designed-in crosswalks there too though particularly on weekend evenings). Folks out in towns further east along 2 don't love the backups either. Nor do the truck drivers, the skiers, etc. There's an awful lot of person-hours tied up in the lack of better movement through that one darn intersection I think.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Chief Joseph
Member
Member


Joined: 10 Nov 2007
Posts: 7677 | TRs | Pics
Location: Verlot-Priest Lake
Chief Joseph
Member
PostThu Aug 20, 2020 10:04 am 
I think this is one of those extremely rare instances where Kim is actually wrong about something. clown.gif

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
sticky buns
Member
Member


Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Posts: 175 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
sticky buns
Member
PostThu Aug 20, 2020 11:15 am 
To reply to the original poster, last Sunday, I left the N Fk Skykomish TH around 5:45 or 6. It's normally about a 2 1/4 hr drive home to north Seattle. It took me close to 4 hours. The normal Gold Bar to Sultan backups were present. It was the swimmers walking along the highway with their pool noodles that I didn't expect. I actually put the car in park for a while. Pick a day when it's not 90-something degrees, and you'll be better. But I was surprised how many people looked like they were heading to the river pretty late on a Sunday.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
coldrain108
Thundering Herd



Joined: 05 Aug 2010
Posts: 1858 | TRs | Pics
Location: somewhere over the rainbow
coldrain108
Thundering Herd
PostThu Aug 20, 2020 3:49 pm 
treeswarper wrote:
I also think Covid has made folks become worse drivers.
When the going gets tough the stupid scumbags make it all about themselves and in classic western style, they project that attitude onto everyone else and therefore feel righteous in their scumbaggery. The mirror - all thieves, liars and cheats see everyone else in the world as thieves, liars and cheats. That is how they can live with themselves, its not just them. They expect to be forgiven for it, its the loophole that attracts them to that way of thinking. BTW that traffic jam has been horrible since at least the early 90's when I first experienced it.

Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
rbuzby
Attention Surplus



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 1006 | TRs | Pics
rbuzby
Attention Surplus
PostThu Aug 20, 2020 4:38 pm 
Thanks for the traffic report Sticky Buns, and everybody. I picked the wrong Friday didn't I? What a fun forecast for tomorrow. 80% showers and windy all day into Friday night seems like a good day to not be hiking. But hey! "Showers" are not as bad as "rain" really, maybe it wont even be wet? 20% chance of no showers....... Thats ok I had some nice weather at Middle Oval in July:

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kim Brown
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
Kim Brown
Member
PostThu Aug 20, 2020 8:03 pm 
Chief Joseph wrote:
I think this is one of those extremely rare instances where Kim is actually wrong about something. clown.gif
Well, not really wrong. I tossed in the CYA term, "I think." clown.gif But really; what's one guy, anyway? And it's joker, for chrissakes. probably the most capable driver/pedestrian in the area. you can't base anything on that. People are basically idiots, and WSDOT designs mainly for that. so....joker is not a reliable baseline here. He's skewing everything. clown.gif

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Chief Joseph
Member
Member


Joined: 10 Nov 2007
Posts: 7677 | TRs | Pics
Location: Verlot-Priest Lake
Chief Joseph
Member
PostThu Aug 20, 2020 10:47 pm 
Kim Brown wrote:
Chief Joseph wrote:
I think this is one of those extremely rare instances where Kim is actually wrong about something. clown.gif
Well, not really wrong. I tossed in the CYA term, "I think." clown.gif But really; what's one guy, anyway? And it's joker, for chrissakes. probably the most capable driver/pedestrian in the area. you can't base anything on that. People are basically idiots, and WSDOT designs mainly for that. so....joker is not a reliable baseline here. He's skewing everything. clown.gif
I can't really say that this post is wrong clown.gif ..but you have to admit that you have rarely seen I and the Joker see eye to eye? Although he seems to have mellowed some over the years, so not sure if that proves anything. I have mixed feelings about roundabouts, but I think if it's feasible, then they should build one, imho, the benefits outweigh the negatives. Traffic flow likely will continue to increase (at least for the short term?). No easy solution, some cities had bypasses built before urban sprawl, but there isn't room for that due to geographics.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Randito
Snarky Member



Joined: 27 Jul 2008
Posts: 9495 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bellevue at the moment.
Randito
Snarky Member
PostFri Aug 21, 2020 12:53 am 
Roundabouts are awesome, even though the percentage of Washington drivers utterly befuddled by them is significant, they are still safer and more efficient than the alternatives. Can you imagine how bad the backup would be at the Chevron if the roundabout was a 4 way stop with people playing "no you go" ? Or a stoplight with a traffic sensing loop that, because some nimrod was posting their photos from Eagle Falls on Instagram during the stop ends up short cycling the light? The only IMHO way to significantly improve traffic flow from the current slog is to build a limited access road that bypasses Gold Bar, Startup, Sultan and Monroe and install Jersey Barriers 3 miles either side of Eagle Falls. But that is never going to happen.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!



Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11272 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
PostFri Aug 21, 2020 6:47 am 
The state is beyond the point of building itself out of traffic problems. The only non solution is to keep on until people get sick of things and either take a bus or move away. My curmudgeonly self votes for the latter. It isn't just west of the mountains. Traffic down and up the river has increased and for a bit it seemed to be the place for The Fatality Of The Weekend, with stupid people doing stupid things killing other folks. It's going to get worse, but at least I can take off on my bicycle from home and after braving a quarter mile of a heavier used local road with no shoulders, where cars set their own speed, have a pretty uncrowded ride for many miles on county roads. Yesterday, 32 miles and only a handful of cars encountered. What was even better was no signs of new building going on along that route. Can't say the same about the other areas I ride in. Ranchettes are going in!

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Bronco
Member
Member


Joined: 20 Jun 2010
Posts: 133 | TRs | Pics
Bronco
Member
PostFri Aug 21, 2020 9:27 am 
coldrain108 wrote:
BTW that traffic jam has been horrible since at least the early 90's when I first experienced it.
Memorial Day 1988 I was sitting on HWY 2 coming back from camping with some high school buddies. There was a big sheet of plywood with the words "Land Roll" propped up next to some people in lawn chairs in front of the Grotto mobile home park. I guess they would sit there and wave at people sitting in their cars trying to return to civilization. We waved back and figured it was a thing on holiday weekends. I don't know what "Land Roll" means but I guess we should celebrate it. Anyone else remember seeing that?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Sky Hiker
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Feb 2007
Posts: 1469 | TRs | Pics
Location: outside
Sky Hiker
Member
PostSun Aug 23, 2020 5:58 am 
Wait and see how a roundabout works for there is a proposed one at the intersection of 2 and Skykomish exit. https://www.psrc.org/whats-happening/blog/skykomish-roundabout-receives-psrc-funding

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trail Talk > US HWY 2 Sunday evenings
  Happy Birthday noahk!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum