Everett, Wash.
Published: Monday, June 29, 2009

Sign tells drivers of I-405 access

By Bill Sheets
Herald Writer

 Roger Held of Monroe asks: While driving north on I-5 near the Alderwood mall, the carpool lane has a double white line with a sign that says you cannot cross the line. A little farther up the road it says there is no access to I-405. Shouldn't there be a sign before the double white line stating "no access to I-405 from the carpool lane" so that you can make your decision before entering the double white line area?

Leslie Forbis, carpool lane operations engineer for the state, responds: There is a sign located over the carpool lane just south of the exit to 44th Avenue W., more than a half-mile before the double white line begins. The sign says there is no access from the carpool lane to I-405 and Highway 525. The distance should give drivers in the carpool lane plenty of time to legally move out of the lane if they need to exit to Highway 525 or southbound I-405.

The double white line begins just after I-5 crosses over 44th Avenue W. At that point, carpool drivers cannot legally exit or enter the lane until the double white lines end just beyond the I-405 interchange. Carpool drivers at the Lynnwood Transit Center who need to get onto I-405 should not use the direct access ramp from the park-and-ride. Instead, they should use the 196th Street onramp and enter the freeway on the right side, near the exit to I-405. We installed the double white lines to prevent drivers from crossing three lanes of traffic to get onto I-405 interchange in such a short distance. Attempting to cross them can lead to collisions and create a congestion bottleneck.

Tracey Fitch of Marysville asks: 64th Street NE in Marysville, also known as Highway 528, is a five-lane road running east-west with two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane. In the mornings a school bus stops while traveling eastbound, flashes red lights and puts out its stop sign. Is westbound traffic required to stop? I have seen other school buses continue westbound despite the lights and sign and I have actually adjusted my departure time for the morning commute simply to avoid the dilemma.

Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary responds: You do not have to stop if a road is in this configuration. I would caution drivers that students may cross suddenly after the bus leaves and turns off its warning lights. Again this is a situation where we need to be paying attention to our driving 100 percent of the time to avoid someone running out into the road.

Kevin Schroeter of Mukilteo asks: I would like to suggest a signal change at the intersection of 84th Street SW, Paine Field Boulevard and Highway 526. Cars turning left onto 84th from Paine Field Boulevard may turn only on a turn arrow. It seems that many times drivers turning onto 84th from 526 do not stop completely on red nor realize that the opposing traffic has the right of way because of the turn arrow. I have witnessed many near crashes because of this conflict, including almost being hit several times myself. There is an arrow signal for those turning from 526 onto 84th, and I propose that it be programmed to allow turns only whenever the opposing turn light is red and when cross traffic signals would allow safe turning, instead of allowing right turns on red. The benefits would be great considering the potential loss of life.

Mike Mansfield, state traffic engineer, responds: To keep traffic moving and drivers safe we cannot restrict the right-turn-on-red capability from southbound Highway 526 to 84th Street SW in Mukilteo. Roughly 10 times as many vehicles turn right from southbound Highway 526 than northbound traffic turning left. If we were to prohibit right-turns at this intersection vehicles would quickly fill up the right-turn lane, and cause backups as traffic spilled over into southbound through lanes. As the backups increase so does the risk of congestion related rear-end collisions.

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© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA