Coming this winter, westbound riders on the 44 bus will get to their destinations quicker, courtesy of a new transit lane on N 45th Street west of Stone Way N. There is already a transit lane on N Midvale Place, and SDOT is simply extending it all the way to Stone Way. In order to do that, they will remove the lane for cars going straight on N 45th, and it will be one way between N Midvale Pl and Midvale Ave N.
Good news! Every little bit helps.
So now we can’t take 45th to bypass the westbound backups that go all the way to Stone Way. Awesome.
This is to reduce the westbound backups. Right now half of the street is used to serve the few cars that go straight, while all others need to squeeze into one lane together with the bus.
Not sure how one would take 45th to bypass the westbound backups anyway, since if you do that you are just contributing to it. Between which two points are you traveling would that comment make sense?
I seriously doubt it will reduce westbound backups. And it’s not like that’s ever SDOT’s goal with these projects Their official policy is that congestion is not a considerstion. When they did the “improvements” in this spot a few years ago the backups got even worse not long after.
As for the bypass I described, when westbound traffic gets reallybacked up, I will typically go straight on 45th all the way up to the Aurora offramp, take the off ramp, and then left on 46th. And then I can either jump on Aurora southbound or keep heading into Ballard if I want. Not too many drivers have figured out this trick. Their loss.
It’s pretty simple what this change is. There are currently a short stretch of 45th where there is only one lane shared by buses and cars that are serving the high volume traffic going into Midvale Place, while another lane is for the much less traveled westbound 45th. With the change the lanes will be used to service the higher volume traffic, so by default that improves the flow.
The way you described how you drive is definitely still feasible, just not through the exact same intersection. People can always choose to take smaller side streets, and typically neighborhood streets are made a bit hard to go through fast, because residents typically prefer safety of pedestrians over speed of through traffic. For people who walk around there, I think they’d be happy that you don’t get to drive the way you described.
It’s not like I’m roaring through there. It’s just that compared to waiting for multiple light cycles (and idling and contributing to more air pollution in the process), the route I described is significantly faster. When you create more backups, which is what will happen with this project, just like with a lot of the bike lanes, it means more people will drive-through side streets to avoid it.
How do you figure that this change will create more backups? Most people don’t take the shortcut you describe. This change will split the through traffic into two lanes so it that it backs up less at that point, not more.
Well, it shouldnt be too hard to find out who is right about this once they complete the project.
That’s actually not true. For example, Seattle traffic got worse and worse as light rails expands. Is that proving light rail caused the traffic to get worse? It’s actually not hard to find out who is right, but it’s not really about completion of the project.
When I lived close to the offramp from Aurora to 46th, I can’t count how many times I almost got hit in the crosswalk by people screaming up the hill from Midvale and blowing the stop sign. I hope this at least curtails the aggressive driving on a too-wide street.
Just take the next left. You can get up to the shortcut you’re talking about.
Adding more parking is great. The current crosswalks and stop signs are too confusing for most drivers so this change will help clear those issues up.
I think it’s a great change.
You’re in Seattle, son! You can tke away any parking you like!
How about the many residents who go west on 45th at that intersection so they can then go to Woodland Park N or further west and then left to their condos, apartments or homes? By doing this we keep from adding to the left turn lane from 45th to Stone way N. People who use this route will have to go home somehow. ( c re c)
The elimination of westbound cross-traffic should also improve safety for cyclists headed southeastbound from Midvale into this intersection. I’m assuming the new stop sign there will be removed, since it would no longer serve a purpose.