Wednesday, 6:30 PM looking north to 104th & 166th Ave intersection
4:30 pm I knew it was bad when I got a phone call from my neighbor, Kay, about a near-miss car accident on 166th ave & NE 100th St. I met Kay during our Neighborood Block Watch potluck and she wanted to know who to talk to in the city. I gave her Councilwoman Kim Allen's email. Kay thought the city should keep cones up for a while longer.
5:00 pm My wife then told me a basketball mom, Lisa, phoned while driving up 166th Ave. "How do I get around this mess?" Lisa had been on 166th for a half hour.
6:15 pm I vacillated with my wife about taking some pictures of 166th. It was getting late and I figured most of the traffic would be dissipated, but I went anyway. My jaw dropped. Cars were moving about 5-6 mph on 166th from as far as I could see to the bottom of the hill (from 100th) to the intersection at 104th. Unreal.A number of drivers were mad. Most just upset. One yelled, "make sure you send those pictures to the Mayor!" One driver said it was worse earlier. I asked her which way?
6:30 pm When I got to the intersection, I could see the problems: 1) NO TIMED TRAFFIC LIGHT YET and 2) the right turn lane is closed at the intersection for construction. As you approach the intersection: very few cars travel from the north on 166th or the east on 104th. A few more cars travel from the west; but mostly its a trickle. Thus, until construction is completed 9o% of the traffic at 6pm is stuck IN one lane as it enters the intersection. The sooner that light and extra lane goes in the better.
6:45 pm By the time I walked back to NE 100th Street intersection the line of cars driving up the hill to 100th St. had dissipated. Though, cars will still cued up to 104th.
Trouble spot: This is a shot of 100th & 166th looking South. You can see the cross-walk in the foreground. Turning left out of 100th St. you have no left turn lane ("safety spot"). Those yellow dots do not delineate a turn lane. You have to drive across 3 lanes (!) to make a left turn. When traffic is heavy in the morning the left turn "option" will be out...unless you are willing to risk an accident and fellow travelers are really, really nice to you.
I hope most of the congestion can be cleared with the new traffic light. I encouraged my wife to hold off on her frustration until the city has a chance to put that light in and finish the intersection. I'll take pictures for Part Two tomorrow morning.
4 comments:
I am very unhappy with the traffic revisions on 166th Avenue NE!!
In the evenings, the back up starts at 95th and goes to 104th.
It pathetic! There are no turn lanes anymore, for people who live in neighborhoods to the right of the street (going up the hill)- so your totally screwed if you live on 104th, or have to 'run' a kid up to the high school. What will it be like when Hartman park is full of baseball players?
According to the email I received from the city, "Much of the traffic delay you are presently encountering has more to do with the 4-way stop than it does with the rechannelization. " Yeah Right.
Tonight - traffic was backed up once again. I watched as many any drivers, angry and frustrated, did u-turns in attempts to find other ways around the backup.
It reminds me of our other local, road/nightmare:the Redmond-Woodinville Road!!!
What is it with our city planners?
You bring up some good points, Rebeacca. We'll have to see how it plays out at Hartman Park during basesball season; and once the intersection is complete. The city's computer model showed we'd be better off with this....
Way to go Redmond! Just by pass in the put of the people that put you in office and do what you want! It is a half-baked idea, what about the other lanes on 166th? We are they going to screw that up?
Before the Big Dig at 166th Ave and 104th St, my wife would go thru the intersection to her Woodinville office. She starts out near the Junior High and normally takes 104th St out to the Redmond-Woodinville Rd. But now with the intersection all dug up for the rechannelization project, she must go another way. She has no patience for sitting in a long line of traffic to get up to Woodinville.
I have begun to use an alternative route to travel home from Microsoft back to 100th St (with the crosswalk flasher). Since the traffic is backed up to 95th St, I can turn off at 95th and take back roads home.
I understand if someone lives beyond the big dig, there are fewer options traveling home. It is hard to see how the intersection will improve, since the heavy flow of cars will be squeezed from 4 lanes into 2 lanes.
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