Orphan Road

Wouldn't you know it, with gas prices on the up, Clark County residents are driving less frequently into downtown Portland:

Traffic across the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 bridges, which has gradually ticked upward for most of the past decade, nudged down a fraction in February and dropped 3.3 percent in March, according to preliminary figures from the Oregon Department of Transportation. No figures are out yet for April or May, but those who watch the bridges each day say drives are getting easier.

“My morning commute hasn’t really felt different, but coming home traffic has been lighter,” said Vancouver Heights resident Amanda Brown, 26, who works in downtown Portland and crosses the I-5 bridge each day.

...

More people are taking the bus as well. C-Tran gave 532,026 rides in March, up 36,500 from the same month a year earlier.

“There seems to be an increase in the number of people taking the train,” said northeast Vancouver resident Marjorie Johnson, 65, who daily drives across the I-205 bridge then takes the Max light rail to work near Portland’s Lloyd Center. “I see new faces every day. We fill the train.”

ODOT and WADOT are currently working on a replacement for the current bridge. The most controversial aspect has been whether or not to leave room for putting light rail on it. Given the current situation, light rail ought to move from "controversial" to "no-brainer."

New viaduct or no, I do like the idea of reducing the number of on- and off-ramps for I-5 downtown. There really are too many, it seems, for a major North-South thoroughfare like I-5. In what other city can you enter and exit the freeway every 3 or 4 city blocks?

(That's not a rhetorical question, I'm genuinely curious)

This photo of I-5 at Exit 77 has to be seen to be believed.

...maybe they'll just find another way, argues Cascadia Report, discussing the "nightmare" I-5 closure that began today:

The clear takeaway is that people are more flexible than they think. In this case, there is a strong incentive (not wasting hours in traffic) to find alternatives. It's exactly what would happen if the viaduct freeway were replaced with a combination of better transit and a more efficient network of surface streets. It's exactly what would happen if there were tolls based on the amount of congestion on the roads. As long as there are effective alternatives (like far more transit, better carpool lanes) people will take them.

To be sure, August was strategically chosen because, in Francophone Seattle, no one really works this month. But it does show how elastic demand is for our highways. If you make a resource free, people will tend to over-consume it.

The I-5 closure is coming. If you commute up to Seattle from the South, this would be a good time to (a) take a vacation, or (b) learn about Sounder.

The P-I gives us the rundown on the looming construction mess:

The state wants the job done quickly so I-5 is usable when initial work begins next year to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. There was no way to keep more lanes open and allow crews to work safely, state officials said, or to spread it over nights and weekends and get the work done before fall rains begin.

Initially, up to two lanes at a time between Spokane Street and I-90 will be closed, then three lanes toward the end of the job during the work -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"In terms of the impact to traffic, this is going to be the biggest," said state transportation spokeswoman Jamie Holter of the $15.5 million project. "There isn't a place in the state where you have that many vehicles on the road."

WSDOT is doing everything it can to get the word out, Metro is pitching in with increased bus service. One logical piece would be to reroute through-traffic to I-405. In fact, as I've argued before, when they finally widen 405 in 10 or 20 years, they ought to re-name it I-5 and make the route through Seattle -- the one that goes down to one northbound lane at Seneca Street -- I-405 or I-205, like in Portland.

Who knows, maybe through-traffic isn't significant enough to make a tangible difference, or maybe even the wider I-405 can't handle the increased traffic.