Dinner depends on color of drive

Millions of times a year, commuters check the state highway department’s Web site.

What they really want to know: How will traffic affect my dinner?

From Boeing in Everett through Seattle to Tacoma, colored maps tell it all: Green means go – directly home – and red means stop – at McDonald’s.

Yellow means call home first. Start with something cordial, like “Yellow, sweetie … “

Black (“stop and go” areas in downtown Seattle and Bellevue) means expect to see the sun set before the wheels hit the driveway, even in summer.

Ask us about traffic Have a question about traffic or street rules around Snohomish and Island counties? We can help find an answer. E-mail The Herald at stsmarts@heraldnet. com.

Some of the most clogged areas of Snohomish County are gray, with no equipment to show whether the last few miles can be measured in minutes or epochs.

But help is on the way.

Are we there yet?

Question: How long is the average commute from Arlington to Bothell (and to Lynnwood and Seattle) in the morning? When are the best commuting times to those locations? When are the worst?

Christine Kerlin, Arlington

Answer: The state Department of Transportation can’t calculate travel times from Arlington because it doesn’t yet have data stations that far north. I-5 traffic data starts near the Everett Mall and Boeing at Highway 526.

But the Everett I-5 carpool expansion project will add data loops all the way to U.S. 2, and with money, more could follow to Highway 531 in Arlington, said Myly Posse, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

Until then, commute times from Everett to Bothell average 23 minutes, Everett to Lynnwood is 19 minutes and Everett to Seattle is 38 minutes.

There’s a problem with such averages: They can combine a great commute on a bank holiday with the worst rainy day full of fender benders. Generally, avoiding rush hour (6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.) is the best time to commute.

The state’s real-time traffic maps and cameras are at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic.

A reminder: Move over

Question: What does it take to get the state Department of Transportation to put up some more “Keep right except to pass” signs on I-5 between Smokey Point and Highway 526 (the Boeing exit in south Everett), in both directions? Some lane courtesy would go a long way in easing congestion.

James Parker, Arlington

Answer: “We can check on this,” said Mark Voth, state traffic operations specialist.

The state Department of Transportation places reminder signs, sometimes as an emphasis but typically on a standardized approach and with the funds it has. Strictly speaking, “It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic.”

With a dose of reality, the intent of state law says drivers must stay to the right when practical, which mostly means outside intense gridlock. The state removed some “keep right” signs in the 1990s in Pierce and Thurston counties where traffic was too thick and the signs didn’t make sense.