Posted by TravisB at 5/6/08 12:58 p.m.

The mayor's proposal for Mercer Street is no "solution".

Unless the problem you are trying to "solve" is too much heavy traffic in front of Paul Allen's most prized real estate.

All Allen's proposal offers to do is relocate traffic from one street to another. Well, and spend a ton of tax money doing it. Money that would otherwise be available for much needed repairs to crumbling infrastructure.

Posted by shangrilacottage at 5/6/08 6:21 p.m.

I've lived on Queen Anne since 1979...and frankly I've never really understood just what is meant by the "mercer mess!" I think that the street moves rather well to and from freeway.

My problem has always been the off-ramp from 520 onto I-5 so that I may exit onto Mercer...and also getting from the Mercer on-ramp at I-5 to the off-ramp onto 520. Both of which seem like suicide routes to me.

Janet

Posted by Kurosawa at 5/7/08 3:15 p.m.

Something no one seems to want to talk about is a bored by-pass toll tunnel under the downtown I-5 (instead of under the waterfront), the immediate purpose of which would be to address the downtown I-5 bottleneck (and thus garner federal funding to that end), but with a number of other positive side-effects.

How many drivers are getting off of I-5 at Michigan, taking the Viaduct, only to rejoin I-5 at Mercer, due to I-5 through downtown being a parking lot? How many drivers from other points (West Seattle, for instance) are taking the Viaduct instead of I-5 to get through downtown?

Provide sufficient capacity through the downtown I-5 corridor, and traffic pressure both along the waterfront and in the Mercer corridor (Mercer/Denny/Broad/Roy) should be lessened. The "520 shuffle" could be fixed by creating right-lane on-ramps and the ability for traffic from both Mercer and 520 to opt for the tunnel. It makes a ton of sense - why isn't it being discussed?

Posted by Kurosawa at 5/7/08 3:25 p.m.

"I've lived on Queen Anne since 1979...and frankly I've never really understood just what is meant by the 'mercer mess!' I think that the street moves rather well to and from freeway."

It depends on when, I think. When I used to commute from Queen Anne to Overlake, I would take the Mercer route to I-5, then to 520. I had the ability to adjust my work hours to the traffic conditions, however - just delaying your commute by an hour can have a big effect. On the other hand, at other times it has taken an hour to just get from Lower Queen Anne to the freeway!

Coming back, however, I always took the I-90/Viaduct/Western Ave route, which got me home much quicker, even though it was further - except if the Mariners were playing at Safeco.

When I did come back over 520, I used to take the Roanoke exit, because I hated the "520/Mercer shuffle" so much.