PR Commute from North End during Rush Hour?

Scott Norton

Scott Norton

Epic Win, I push limit
Leaving Lynnwood/Edmonds area around 3:30 pm to Pacific Raceways. Looking for best commute option. I know none of them are good. ;)

I have done the I-5 to SR-18 route and its terrible.
Tried to use 99 through Seattle no better.

I have done the I-5 north to 405 to 167 or I-5 no better.

What about I-5 north to I-405 to I-90 to SR-18?

Anyone here commute SR-18 westbound to Covington/Auburn on weekdays?
Never tried it, never even been to Tiger Mountain is 1,200 foot pass an issue?

Thanks,
Scott
 
Scott, 405 south from the north end isn't bad until you hit the Totem Lake/Kirkland area. Then it's dog slow all the way to 167, and takes forever. Friday traffic anytime after 1:30ish gets nasty, so if you can get over to 18 and head south that way it would probably be your best bet.The pass is pretty steep going north, but not as bad southbound.
The problem for you is how to get to 18 in the first place. Maybe cut off at Woodinville and take Redmond/Woodinville road south and then the Sammamish Pkwy over to 90, which islow as well, or just perservere on 405 till you hit 90. Don't suppose you have a car pool dummy on board?
 
westipton said:
Scott, 405 south from the north end isn't bad until you hit the Totem Lake/Kirkland area. Then it's dog slow all the way to 167, and takes forever. Friday traffic anytime after 1:30ish gets nasty, so if you can get over to 18 and head south that way it would probably be your best bet.The pass is pretty steep going north, but not as bad southbound.
The problem for you is how to get to 18 in the first place. Maybe cut off at Woodinville and take Redmond/Woodinville road south and then the Sammamish Pkwy over to 90, which islow as well, or just perservere on 405 till you hit 90. Don't suppose you have a car pool dummy on board?
Click to expand...

We were planning to try 405 to 18 then on to PR. Have never tried it that way. Google maps show in traffic times all about the same except 18 is a little less.

My carpool lane dummy is following me in my E30 to use for track home commutes on Fri/Sat evenings. :D
 
Scott Norton said:
We were planning to try 405 to 18 then on to PR. Have never tried it that way. Google maps show in traffic times all about the same except 18 is a little less.
Click to expand...

It's a steep pull out of Issaquah up to Highway 18. There's a short cut :)

If your rig isn't too big, take the Issaquah FRONT Street turn off (2nd Issaquah exit) and after getting through downtown, it turns into Issaquah-Hobart road. Takes you right to highway 18 without the up hill pull (Hmm maybe 8 or 9 miles down but well marked you can't miss it as it's the only overpass on Issaquah/Hobart road). NOTE: It's a narrow 2 lane country road but semi's with 45 foot trailers do use it on occasion.

NOTE:
When you come down the OFF ramp, you need to get OVER in the LEFT LANE BEFORE the 1st stop light to get on the correct route. That can be a trick as traffic is heavy there.

I drive this route to and from the track on week days and weekends. NEVER have a traffic problem cept for downtown Issaquah on week days. Even with that, my travel time from Issaquah to the track is about 35 minutes.

This IS better then fighting 405 south in to Renton which can really back up with any accident or even normal traffic.

P.S.
For DECADES, DOT has had a 'low level plan' to extend Hwy 18 ALL the way up North to Woodenville as a 'short cut' to reduce the metro traffic density with car coming in to Bellevue/Seattle only to turn north. Don't hold your breath for the completion of that project :(
 
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Thanks Richard...I know that road now that I think about it.
Our rig is small just a Dually and 16" open trailer.
Thanks for the tip on the light! I remember that too now.
 
I'm starting from closer (Woodinville), but I have a nice, relaxing, traffic-free 1-hour commute to PR during rush hour. I go out to Duvall, take 203 S to Fall City, then over to Preston, I-90E 1 exit to Hwy 18. Hwy 18 traffic is no big deal since widening. There is the grade up Tiger Mtn but it's only a couple of miles. From Lynnwood I'm betting it would take you an hour and a half, but it would be a stress-free hour and a half.

A couple of years ago Greg Miller called me on a Friday afternoon, PR-bound and stuck on 405 in Bellevue or Kirkland. He asked me where I was and I told him I was at home loading the race car on the trailer. I left a half hour later and beat him to the track. :D

Good luck!
 
Bob,

That's a GOOD route from up North if you know your way through those back country roads. It would be FASTER then coming down 405/90/Issaquah-Hobart/18.

As you said, 'stress free' travel. The only trick is picking up the right road in the Fall City area to head for Preston. Little tricky in there as you cross the bridge.
 
I-90 to Front Street to Issaquah Hobart Road is jammed at this time of the day starting in downtown Issaquah and going to about where the hang gliders land. You will be faster going from I-90 to 18.
 
I agree, I did Issaquah to 18 on the Hobart Road last month and it took forever. Time is probably about the same as going on up to 18 on 90, but no slow downs and less stress.
Iknow, just go tomorrow early. Oh wait, you're at PR by now, so we'll see tomorrow how it worked for you.
 
It's 6:00AM Saturday morning. Have you picked your route to the track yet??

I'm going Issaquah/Hobart road and leaving at about 7:10. Stop for coffee/ice and I'll be at the track about 7:45 or 50 :)
 
Just a quick question to the Seattle locals. Is it legal for a pick-up truck and race trailer to use the car pool lanes?
 
Considering vehicles with trailers are NOT allowed in the left lane, I don't think so.

The good news is, you aren't burdoned with a reduced speed limit like semi's trailer trucks are ;)
 
I use the commuter lane all the time with my trailer, as long as there are at least 2 of us in the truck, and there is nothing illegal about it that I've ever heard. I've never been stopped or even given a second look from the po-lis so I will keep doing it myself.
 
westipton said:
I use the commuter lane all the time with my trailer, as long as there are at least 2 of us in the truck, and there is nothing illegal about it that I've ever heard.
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Interesting, Wes. Two things.

1.
They (as in the people we all dispise) passed a 'new' law about 2 or 3 years ago restricting (at least semi's) from using the farthest left lane of any highway. I thought it applied to ALL vehicles with trailers? Maybe not.

NOTE 1:
Yes, you still see them doing it on occasion (not often) but, they can be pulled over for it.

NOTE 2:
FOUND IT. This DOES apply to ALL cars/trucks towing a trailer but, for it to apply you must be OVER the 10,000 GVW talked about further down this post:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=468-510-020

2.
Rob, in Washington State, any vehicle/trailer combo that's UNDER 10,000 GVW is allowed to run at the POSTED speed limit. OVER 10,000 GVW is restricted to 60 MPH.

NOTE 3:
WA State Patrol mentions speed limit in this document for cars/trucks towing trailers as the POSTED limit with a caviet about 'weight and conditions'. i.e. a vague ref. to the 10,000 GVW thing:

http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/docs/cvd/170_129.pdf
 
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Richard Broadhead said:
It's a steep pull out of Issaquah up to Highway 18. There's a short cut :)

If your rig isn't too big, take the Issaquah FRONT Street turn off (2nd Issaquah exit) and after getting through downtown, it turns into Issaquah-Hobart road. Takes you right to highway 18 without the up hill pull (Hmm maybe 8 or 9 miles down but well marked you can't miss it as it's the only overpass on Issaquah/Hobart road). NOTE: It's a narrow 2 lane country road but semi's with 45 foot trailers do use it on occasion.

NOTE:
When you come down the OFF ramp, you need to get OVER in the LEFT LANE BEFORE the 1st stop light to get on the correct route. That can be a trick as traffic is heavy there.

I drive this route to and from the track on week days and weekends. NEVER have a traffic problem cept for downtown Issaquah on week days. Even with that, my travel time from Issaquah to the track is about 35 minutes.

This IS better then fighting 405 south in to Renton which can really back up with any accident or even normal traffic.

P.S.
For DECADES, DOT has had a 'low level plan' to extend Hwy 18 ALL the way up North to Woodenville as a 'short cut' to reduce the metro traffic density with car coming in to Bellevue/Seattle only to turn north. Don't hold your breath for the completion of that project :(
Click to expand...


I took this route on Friday to the track (from Bothell) instead of my usual 405 to 169 route and it was definitely slower than just toughing it out down 405. I left my house around 4:15. I don't know if there was something unique going on in Issaquah but once I got off on Front street I sat in stop and go traffic about 2/3rds of the way down to the 18.
 
6000lb SUV + 2400lb car + 1200lb open trailer == 9600lbs. Of course, you're probably also carrying people and tools, maybe spare wheels/tires, some fuel... I bet we're ALL over 10,000lb GVW.
 
Still a bit off topic, but regarding semi's I have noticed lately that they almost all run in the left lane of a two lane freeway, such as 167 from Renton to Auburn. It's legal I believe, but a royal pain to get around them, and very inconsiderate. Dump trucks are by far the worst though. Those bozos all run in the left lane, over the speed limit, and rarely cover their loads. As usual our wonderful Trooper boys in blue do nothing to them, and if you call and complain about a broken windshield nobody cares.
I was told by a trucker just the other day that somehow CDL certs are being purchased without the training that is supposed to go with it, which makes perfect sense based on the number of scary semi drivers out there.
One more thing, which involves my pet peeve, the left lane losers. From Spokane all the way to Madison, WI Trout and I only witnessed 2 or 3 drivers who failed to move to the right for faster traffic, which was very refreshing. Out here it's an epidemic of huge proportions, but again our boys in blue look the other way and will not enforce it, even though they made a big deal last year about doing exactly that.
 
westipton said:
......One more thing, which involves my pet peeve, the left lane losers. From Spokane all the way to Madison, WI Trout and I only witnessed 2 or 3 drivers who failed to move to the right for faster traffic, which was very refreshing. Out here it's an epidemic of huge proportions, but again our boys in blue look the other way and will not enforce it, even though they made a big deal last year about doing exactly that.
Click to expand...

Wes,
You ever drive in Europe? You'd LOVE it. Even if the posted limit is 70 MPH, if you aren't doing at least 120 MPH you BETTER NOT sit in the left lane and even then keep one eye on the mirror. Sombody doing 140 plus will be coming up behind you :) :) and fully expect you to get out of the damn way before he gets there!!
 
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