We need to tear down the convention center and add roadway capacity through downtown but instead doing that they are expanding the convention center (it sits atop interstate 5 for those non locals).
We have only 1 general purpose lane dedicated to southbound vehicle traffic through downtown Seattle.
All other lanes are either exit lanes or a carpool lane.
Imagine L.A. or Boston or N.Y.C. having only 1 highway that goes North/South through it and one direction has traffic choked down to 1 lane for cars that are not stopping in the city. WTF Chuck!
It is so bad now that on sat. and sun mornings at 9 a.m. you will be in slowdowns 3 miles from downtown.
It is so bad, and they know they are making it worse, which is why they are buildinf a tunnel to replace the bridge...a tunnel with LESS capacity and they are tolling it...but are trying to keep the tolls low enough so everyone doesn’t just take surface streets.
The new tunnel will be used by tens of thousands who presently use the viaduct for their commute. Tolls on the new tunnel will cause drivers to avoid tolls and create congestion elsewhere. There should be a lifetime pass one price one purchase for regular commuters to pay that thing off as fast as possible. Tolls cause problems.
He said the whole point of "selling" the airspace above I-5 was to effectively cap capacity there.