Restructuring always leaves line of cars

Published 1:41 pm Friday, November 6, 2009

It has been some time now since they restructured the Bunk Foss Road into the New Bunk Foss Road with the U.S. 2 off-ramp.

As a daily commuter from rural Snohomish to Everett, I cannot help but wonder if anyone in the Snohomish County roads division ever drives through here. When heading west on the New Bunk Foss Road (at any given time of day) there is a string of cars trying to get into the left lane. That is because the left lane is straight through onto west U.S. 2 or left onto south Highway 9. This lane backs up far enough to prevent people from exiting the U.S. 2 off ramp.

I’m no genius, but wouldn’t it make sense to make the right lane (that is invariably empty) go straight through onto westbound 2 and a right turn onto northbound 9, and the left lane a left-turn only?

In my opinion, whoever did the engineering for this “upgrade” should have looked a bit further into the future of traffic, as well. Instead of tearing out the old Bunk Foss Road where it merged into Highway 9 prior to the upgrade, this would have been a perfect fit for a northbound merge lane onto Highway 9. Even the new U.S. 2 off ramp is a straight shot toward the old road. They missed the ball on that one.

James Barton

Snohomish