WSDOT fixes frustrating Seattle intersection
Sep 2, 2015, 5:13 PM | Updated: Sep 3, 2015, 9:31 am
Engineers began working to fix the light timing to prevent the backups at an SR 520 off-ramp after drivers complained. (KIRO Radio/Chris Sullivan)
(KIRO Radio/Chris Sullivan)
If they haven’t already, drivers will celebrate the adjustments made to a traffic signal in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood.
The Washington State Department of Transportation added a pair of lights — one at the end of the westbound ramp from Highway 520 to Montlake and another for northbound traffic on Montlake Boulevard.
The second light caused such bad backups that cars from westbound 520 couldn’t turn onto Montlake, creating that lengthy back-up from I-5 to the ramp.
Engineers began working to fix the light timing to prevent the backups, according to WSDOT’s Suanne Pelley.
“We know there are some issues,” she said. “People are out in the field tracking it and thinking about ways to improve it.”
Pelley expects the changes to work.
“We do expect, over the next couple of weeks, that both driver behavior and adjustments to signal conditions should improve driving conditions,” she explained.
Though there is still congestion on northbound Montlake, it’s not as bad as it was. The backups on 520 eastbound seemed to have eased as well.
Jeff Bechthold, the Sports Information Director at the University of Washington, reported the problem around the time it became an issue. He originally reported terrible conditions at this chokepoint. However, he said since the adjustments, things have changed.
“Massive improvement,” and “remarkably smooth,” he wrote.
And, he wanted to make sure people know that WSDOT listened to drivers and got on the problem quickly.
