If you’re among our neighbors who avoid the intersection at Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 80th Street, don’t expect it to get any better in the near future.
Although Maple Leaf resident Joshua Newman recently contacted the Seattle Department of Transportation about adding left-turn lanes both east- and westbound on 80th Street, the city has determined that traffic at the intersection simply doesn’t warrant the change at this time.
“I’ve just been driving through that intersection for a while and it’s just a pain,” Newman said as the reason he decided to contact the department.
And many drivers who have traveled the intersection anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. likely feel the same way. Traffic frequently is backed up in both directions by cars taking a left turn, especially for those traveling westbound where there simply isn’t room on the right to pass a vehicle turning left.
Meanwhile, cars traveling eastbound have the advantage of two lanes, which actually can add to the holdup for those traveling westbound if they get stuck behind a vehicle taking a left.
However, William Burns with SDOT’s Traffic Operations said the department conducted a detailed study of the intersection to address Newman’s concerns, which found that as bad as the intersection seems, it’s simply not bad enough.
“We’d love to be able to say ‘sure’ to every request, but we sometimes just can’t do it,” Burns said.
One of the biggest hurdles was the potential cost to add another lane for westbound traffic, which he said would involve major resurfacing as well as removing parking.
In addition to looking at the striping options at the intersection, the study also examined its collision history, which was considerably low, and counted traffic volume during a morning and evening peak hour as well as one off-peak hour.
“It’s a pretty thorough investigation, actually,” Burns said
The study counted 307 vehicles traveling westbound during the peak hour of 8-9 a.m. on March 25, 220 during the off-peak hour of 2-3 p.m. that same day, and 339 vehicles during the evening peak hour from 5-6 p.m. March 31, Burns said.
During both peak hours, 13% of those vehicles were taking a left turn, while 5.2% were taking a left during the off-peak hour.
What other intersections or traffic issues do you consider major chokepoints in Maple Leaf?
I used to live ~85th and 5th. The four way stop at 5th and Banner is horrible.
Drewskers – I hadn't thought about a signage change, and yes, that does seem like a much better (effective, cheaper) solution. A shame SDOT didn't consider other alternative to the problem, just my one recommendation.
FWIW, my concern isn't turning left, it's others who make a left turn and block those going though the intersection.
A simple solution for 80% of the problem would be a signage change that disallows left hand turns for westbound traffic on 80th during peak hours. There are other ways to get to Green Lake than making that turn! Many of us in Maple Leaf already know that and avoid turning at that intersection.