My speedometer indicates my car is capable of traveling at 150 miles per hour. I qualified as a high-speed driver, so I could drive that fast, but my training tells me unless I am on the salt flats, 150 mph is not a good idea for no other reason than a wheel might fall off. With proper conditions, we could drive at 100 mph. It would require that our politicians, engineers, and taxpayers worked together as a team to provide safe adequately designed roadways. Our roadways need to be planned to be population change sensitive. We also need to replace all the mediocre drivers clogging our freeways with skilled drivers. To accomplish this would require more extensive driver training, testing, and certification. We could start with stopping drivers from following too closely and changing lanes without signaling. Simple enough, but a majority of drivers expose others to injury and death because they just do not get it.
Southbound I-5 from Seattle to Lakewood at 3:30p on a Tuesday afternoon.
Realizing my suggestion that 100 mph is possible will be difficult for most readers to accept, there should be no argument for my being able to drive at the posted speed limit of 60 mph. How fast do I get to drive? Three mph. I never hear much constructive commentary about this issue. Apparently, our population is just numb to our choked roadways and no longer has the energy to complain.
With no complaints, the politicians do not choose to try solving the problem. If they do work on it, it seems like too little and too late.
To be fair, there are freeway construction projects going on and I would expect they will be helpful when completed.
Some say the politicians want to leave the roads jammed to motivate our population to replace cars with rapid train transit. I do not know the veracity of that statement, but based on the low level of problem solving going on, it could be an accurate concept.
So a trip from Lake City, Washington in the northern part of Seattle, Washington to Lakewood, Washington near Dupont, Washington should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Instead, it took 2+ hours.
That is ridiculous.
How about building a second level of roadway over the existing ground level and charging a toll for using a civilized road where one can travel with predictable speed?
How about going in the other direction and doing a long distance tunnel project?
How about more lanes to either side of the existing roadway? I know, we will have to move the homeless camps.
How about a combination of any of the two above suggestions?
I can quickly brainstorm some solutions, and I am not an engineer or politician. Once the politicians discover we have a transportation problem, I am confident they can come up with some workable ideas.
Fortunately, I do not have to drive in this misery on a daily or weekly basis. What in the world must it be like for citizens who commute through this mess on a regular basis? A daily commute equates with chopping years off a traveler’s life. It must sap the life out of anyone trying to use our Freeway. The term Freeway is a misnomer. Clog-Way would be a more descriptive term, don’t you think?
You might not agree with me, but this is how I see it as I hurtle down the road at three mph.
Now move over and get out of my way. I have places to go and people to see.
Oh, please let me end on a positive note. One way to beat the Clog-Way disaster is to listen to intellectually stimulating podcasts on a variety of subjects. When you do that, you might not care how long it takes you to get down the road.
As seen on Facebook (though you weren’t specifically addressing roads being broken because of surface irregularities): ‘If you use pot money to repair roads, would that be called pot holes?’
Mr. Anderson,
Your comment is WMT (Worth My Time) and laugh-out loud funny too.
If 51% of our citizens choose to lay around and smoke pot and it would be ironic to know pot money taxes were fixing pot holes. I like it.
Thank you sir.
Joseph Boyle
Look at that will ya? The mere threat that Joe Boyle was going to write an article on our broken roads triggers fast action from Senator Steve O’Ban. Senator O’Ban is always out in front of problems generating solutions before others even know we have a problem.
Thank you for your contribution to our betterment, Senator O’Ban.
Senator O’Ban’s announcement related to improving road & traffic conditions as seen in The Suburban Times on 02-27-18..
LINK:
https://thesubtimes.com/2018/02/26/senate-transportation-budget-to-offer-pierce-county-traffic-improvements-train-noise-reduction/?utm_source=The+Suburban+Times+email+edition&utm_campaign=3335a995ad-TST-EE&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4a8f53e3e2-3335a995ad-7093
Joseph Boyle
Our worst problem on the road is the single occupant vehicle. Look around you when you are on the freeway; most vehicles have a driver with no passengers. Each driver is in a comfy little cocoon with no need to carry on a conversation. We refuse to carpool, and until we do, the problem will get worse. If we convert our freeways to more HOV lanes (two minimum), thoughtful people will think about picking up a passenger for the commute. Is this politically impossible? Maybe it won’t be when the average speed is 1 and 1/2 mph. Most people will get to work just in time to go home.
Well, if 50% of the population is “lying around” smoking pot, they would not be on the congested roads. Problem solved. You many now go 100 mph, pass go and collect kudos along the way!
RCW 46.61.672 Using a personal electronic device while driving.
(1) A person who uses a personal electronic device while driving a motor vehicle on a public highway is guilty of a traffic infraction and must pay a fine as provided in RCW 46.63.110(3).
Like taking a picture of traffic – Mr. Boyle (you should know better) WOT
Take the Weed Train to Lakewood!
Mr. Wilson,
Correct. That is why my passenger took the photos.
Joseph Boyle
I agree with you, Joe. Carpooling doesn’t work for most people because we all want to go to different places at different times! In addition, studies have shown carpool lanes actually slow overall traffic times. They are, just as you suspected, another way to try to force people to do what Government wants–use mass transit.
I remember years ago at a Rotary meeting someone representing rapid transit gave a talk about how great trains were going to be for everyone. When asked about the cost and ridership, it was revealed how expensive per-person the construction would be. I grabbed a napkin and worked out the numbers–for the amount of money spent, every rider could instead be provided a brand-new Kia!
I just visited Alaska, and it was GREAT to be able to drive at reasonable speeds with a lot less traffic. Wider and better roads here could give us the same experience, but instead we’re spending over 50 BILLION dollars on trains…