Comments on: America’s Most Congested Intersections

By: joshuadf

joshuadf — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:44:08 +0000

I agree. Mercer does get bad some afternoons–I remember the 30 (or maybe 74 at the time) taking 45 minutes to get from Seattle Center to Westlake Ave, but I think that was after an event. The real problem with the I-5/Mercer/Valley stretch through South Lake Union is that it is extremely confusing (as well as ugly). If you are trying to get to Seattle Center from I-5 it feels really weird to be turning away from the Space Needle–and if you’re new to the area you can easily end up turning north on Westlake instead of taking the underpass over to Denny.

I would not be surprised if local landowners really are begging Nickels to do two-way Mercer, but there is certainly public benefit to those of us who are working there (UW SLU’s address is 815 Mercer).

By: Skye

Skye — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:03:24 +0000

I’m not surprised at the 4 from Austin that are on the list. If you live in Austin you try and avoid driving on 35 through downtown, unless you have lots of time to sit in traffic.

By: CriticalWonk

CriticalWonk — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:49:55 +0000

I just don’t think Mercer is that bad. Bad as in ugly, but not as in traffic. I walk past there a lot. Say Mercer Mess and I say what?

In comparison, 45th is wretched and Denny is a parking lot.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:36:41 +0000

Note that all of Washington’s worst intersections are located between Microsoft and the 520 bridge.

By: Lydia

Lydia — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:47:14 +0000

I lived in Austin for twenty-one years and am not surprised to see it on the list. While being one of the top creative-class cities, renowned for quality of life, it is also a poster child for the sprawling development that occurs when a city tries to “just say no” to growth.

By: Jay Hesselberth

Jay Hesselberth — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:10:33 +0000

One important note on Austin’s busy intersections – they’re all on feeder roads (i.e. on-off ramps that are ~1 mile long and parallel the highway), and don’t tend to back up highway traffic as much as more integrated systems.