WSP Trooper John Dattilo posted on X that the crash happened shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday night near 204th Street East. The pedestrian was walking on the right shoulder when hit from behind. The suspect driver drove off, possibly in a white sedan.

More on WA roads: Fiery car crash near Lacey causes I-5 to shut down for five hours

🚨Troopers are on scene of a vehicle vs pedestrian hit and run collision NB SR 7 near 204th in Spanaway. I’m saddened to announce that the pedestrian has died.

The northbound right lane is blocked until further notice.

— Trooper John Dattilo (@wspd1pio) June 20, 2024

The victim has not been identified. People with any information are asked to call WSP.

More on WA roads: Driver caught using impressive dummy to evade fines while using HOV lanes

This is a developing story, check back for updates

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints here. You can also follow Chris on X, formerly known as Twitter. Head here to follow KIRO Newsradio Traffic’s profile on X.

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That’s why a lot of drivers hit Spanaway Loop Road, which hugs the east side of Joint Base Lewis–McChord (JBLM) and avoids all the congestion on Pacific Avenue. It’s such a popular shortcut that it’s now the second-busiest corridor in the area, but it’s about to go away for four months as a major sewer line improvement will rip up the road.

Spanaway Loop Road is expected to close in late July or early August between 116th Street and Garfield Street, near Washington High School.

More on WA roads: King County officers report 36 DUIs in one weekend

Workers are replacing an old, corroded pipe, with a new 72-inch diameter pipe as the county upgrades its sewer system.

“You open up a deep line like this is and all you’re just going to get is a very very wide trench,” Steve Chanfrau, engineering manager for the Pierce County sewer utility, said. “There wouldn’t be any road left to be able to bring traffic on so this was the best way to do it and to get them in and out of there as quickly as possible.”

Chanfrau said they looked for other places to put the pipe, but this was the best spot.

“Believe me, we tried every possible way to try to put this somewhere else, but this was the only place that we could put this and meet both of our goals of up-sizing the line and replacing the corroded line that’s already there,” he said.

With Spanaway Loop Road ripped up, the county will also re-pave more than a mile of it — the stretch from the closure down to Military Road. Drivers should expect several months of closures and disruptions. The only real detour will be the already crowded Pacific Avenue.

“Most of that I believe is being shunted over to Pacific Avenue, just because of the amount of flow,” Chanfrau said. “Obviously people are going to find their way.”

This four-month closure is expected to cause huge delays in the area.

WSF Chief on feasibility of new diesel ferries: ‘There isn’t a ferry dealership down the road’

“Please be patient,” Chanfrau said. “Be kind to the traffic control people. We’re doing as much as we can to keep things open.”

This is just Phase 4 of a six-phase project to improve the 40-year-old sewer system. The old pipes in this area are expected to reach their capacity in 2028 so replacing them now is necessary. The closure of Spanaway Loop Road is expected to last into the school year, which will cause problems for Washington High School, Keithly Middle School and Pacific Lutheran University.

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The quick building of a few new Olympic Class ferries is a campaign talking point in the gubernatorial race. The candidates have all said they would consider the idea if it would get boats on the water faster.

But is this feasible? Can the ferry service just grab the old plans for Olympic Class boats and start welding?

More on Washington State Ferries: Calmer waters ahead for Washington State Ferries?

I had the chance to speak with the head of Washington State Ferries, Steve Nevey, about this who said building diesel boats is not the solution.

“A lot of the manufacturers that are in the machinery space and the integrators are no longer in business,” Nevey said. “We couldn’t just pull an Olympic Class plan off the shelf and say ‘Here you go.’ We’d have to start designing the machinery from scratch, and that would put us back about a year from where we are now, maybe more.”

What about other options? Some people have suggested shopping for used ferries, just to get something on the water.

“There isn’t a ferry dealership down the road,” Nevey joked. “We did a worldwide search to see if there are any ferries that would be compatible. We found one, I think it was somewhere in Scandinavia. We looked at it. It was half built like two decades ago and then they stopped building it. It just wouldn’t have been feasible.”

Most ferry riders probably don’t realize just how unique our ferry boats are. Nevey said it’s hard to find anything compatible.

“Our boats are unique,” he said. “They’re double-ended. They have propellers on both ends. They have pilot houses on both ends so you don’t have to leave the dock and turn, which saves a lot of time. It’s not like all the other ferry operators in the world use the same system and the same docks.”

And fixing the existing Olympic Class boats is not an easy job either. Nevey said that’s why it takes a while to fix something when it goes wrong.

“They’re extremely technical machines, and the parts often are obsolete, some of them were built in the ’50s,” he said. “You can’t just go to a store and pick up a part you need. You need to kind of manufacture them at Eagle Harbor, and it’s a big challenge.”

More from Chris Sullivan: Drivers slow to understand zipper merge, would better signs help?

With the bidding for the five new electric-hybrid ferries now underway, Nevey said the agency is pulling out of the darkness.

“I think we’re on a good path to recovery,” he said. “It’s critical that we get new vessels as quickly as possible, which is my main priority.”

If the bidding goes according to plan, the state might have the two lowest bidders build the boats simultaneously. The target is for the first two to be in the water in 2028. Each boat is expected to cost more than $250 million.

The long-range plan is to have 16 new boats in the fleet by 2040.

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I have reported for years about the lack of general merging etiquette in the Pacific Northwest and how it contributes to our terrible congestion. I have also lamented the lack of merging skills taught to young drivers. There is less than a half page on merging in the Driver’s Guide.

Why am I on my high horse again today?

I have been traveling back and forth to the beach the last few weekends, and I have been experiencing the long backups on US 12 and SR 8 between Montesano and Thurston County because of the ongoing construction projects there.

More on beach driving: The do’s and don’ts of beach driving in Washington

Coming off the Montesano cut-off road from U.S. 101 to U.S. 12, you run into a lane reduction. The right lane is blocked. There was a mile-long backup in the left lane from all the drivers who merged way too early. That left the right lane completely open all the way to the merge point. I drove up the right lane until close to the end, and that’s when drivers started veering into my lane to prevent me from going further and then eventually trying to block me from merging in.

Let me be absolutely clear on this. The people veering into my lane and blocking me do not understand how to merge or how zipper merging works. They are doing it wrong.

Let’s revisit the Washington Department of Transportation’s friendly video on how it’s supposed to work.

“To reduce congestion, remember to zipper,” the video announcer said. “Merge late and cooperate. It’s OK to take turns.”

Merging early actually creates unnecessary congestion

“Driver cooperation helps increase the number of vehicles passing through and actually reduces congestion and delays,” the video said.

I have always wondered if better signs would work to help drivers understand the concept. I have seen signs in other states that actually show the traffic merging, like the teeth on a zipper, and have seen smaller cities use similar signs.

And then this week, I went up to Everett to look at the four-month closure of the northbound Snohomish River Bridge on 529.

And to my surprise, the City of Everett put up a series of orange signs spelling out exactly how to properly zipper merge. Check them out above. They read “Use Both Lanes to Merge Point.” “Zipper Merge Ahead.” And finally, “Merge Here Take Turns.” What do you think? Would this better explain the situation?

If they work for the City of Everett, I wonder why they aren’t used by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for construction projects like the ones I hit on the way to the beach.

WSDOT doesn’t use these smaller, static orange signs in its construction zones because the speeds are usually higher in these construction zones, and there are times when there is no backup at all. Pushing drivers to a later merge when traffic is flowing at a higher speed can cause problems too.

“We don’t want drivers to wait until the last minute to merge when traffic is moving at speed. Orange static signs would not be appropriate in this condition. Static orange signs may be appropriate on low-speed roads,” WSDOT wrote me in an email.

More on Washington roads: Designs unveiled for new I-5 bridge between Washington, Oregon

Zipper merging is most appropriate when there is bumper-to-bumper traffic and the speeds are low. Merging at speed should be done when there is a safe gap to do so.

On U.S. 12 and State Route 8, WSDOT uses smart signs that put up variable messages to meet the real-time demand. They do instruct drivers to use both lanes and take turns at the merge point. I just must have missed them on my trips. There were two that were blank as I approached the backups.

The bottom line is this: Merging early causes congestion. Drivers using the open lane are not cutting the line or cheating.

It’s time to figure this out.

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I learned to drive on the Long Beach Peninsula, first grabbing the wheel while sitting on my dad’s lap before I could even reach the pedals. I advanced to driving at very low speeds before even getting my permit. Sure, those are both illegal, but that’s how things were done in the 70s and 80s.

One thing that early experience gave me was a great respect for the ocean, the sand and how careful you have to be while driving on the sand.

More Chokepoints content: State Route 529 heading north to close for four months

Even at 54 years old, I still love the thrill of driving on the sand, but the things I see other drivers doing just boggles my mind. I’m not sure if the public at large understands the rules for driving on the beach. On Saturday, I met with Washington State Park (WSP) Ranger David Linthakhan on the sand just outside of Seaview to go over the basics.

“This is a state highway, so anything you wouldn’t do on any road in town, you really shouldn’t do out here,” Ranger Linthakhan said.

Let’s say that again. The beach is a state highway, and all of the same driving rules apply.

There is a 25-mile-an-hour speed limit, and the law spells out exactly where you can — and more importantly where you cannot — drive on the beach.

“What most people don’t know is the actual legal drivable area,” Ranger Linthakhan said. “Which is the uppermost hard pack sand, which is essentially as far east as you can go without being in the soft sand.”

When you drive onto the beach, there are specific areas. There are the dunes. Then the soft sand. Then the hard-packed sand, the wet sand and then the ocean. You need to drive as far away from the water as possible without getting up into the soft sand. Wet sand is dangerous to drive on and it’s bad for the clams. That’s where they live. Driving over them is bad.

More on Washington driving: May through September is the most deadly period for motorcyclists

“A good rule of thumb is just where the majority of the tracks are is probably where you should,” Ranger Linthakhan said. “What I like to tell people is if it’s wet and shiny don’t go there.”

Washington State Park Ranger David Linthakhan going over the rules of the road of driving on the beach. (Photo: Chris Sullivan, KIRO Newsradio)

If you’re the only car there, you probably shouldn’t be there.

And I know it’s tempting, but you should keep the hot-dogging to a minimum.

“Most people realize when they get out here that they shouldn’t do some of the things that they do, like spinning in circles and fishtailing,” Ranger Linthakhan said. “People say ‘Oh it’s the beach, I thought it was OK,’ but somewhere down inside, they probably knew that was not cool.”

But it’s not the donuts that get most drivers in trouble. Just like on pavement, Ranger Linthakhan said speed is the biggest problem.

“I mean, it’s flat most of the time and you can see for miles so it’s pretty easy to get going too fast,” he said. “The problem is as the tide comes and goes. It creates ruts and areas that you don’t really know are there until you’re on top of it. That’s when accidents happen.”

As for technique, keep up a steady speed. Don’t make sudden movements and approach any water cautiously. You never know for sure how deep it is.

What about braking?

“Don’t slam on your brakes,” Ranger Linthakhan said. “Don’t stop with your brakes unless you absolutely have to. Let yourself roll to a stop. What happens when you slam on your brakes, which pushes the sand in a mound in front of your tires, and then you’re fighting that. If you’re in a front wheel drive vehicle, you’re probably going to get stuck.”

And be hyper-vigilant in scanning the beach. Dogs and children like to dart around on the beach, and you never know when one might pop up from behind a car parked on the sand. A note on that too. Try not to park your car in the middle of the road. If there are a bunch of tracks in the sand, you should probably park a little closer to the soft sand.

More from Chris Sullivan: Calmer waters ahead for Washington State Ferries?

But even if you’re parked in the wrong place, it’s still up to the other drivers to safely get around you.

“There is no law that says you can’t place your stuff someplace in that space, but it’s up to the individual driver to recognize that there are people there and I should give them a wide berth,” Ranger Linthakhan said.

Beach driving is fun. Just be smart and courteous about it. And please stay off the clam beds.

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This is the “big one” Chokepoints has been warning drivers about since the start of the year — a four-month closure of the 529 northbound span over the Snohomish River at the north end of Everett.

It will close Sunday night and will remain closed until October.

“The bridge is 97 years old, and we need to do some work on the mechanical parts that lift and lower the bridge,” the Washington Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Tom Pearce said.

More on WA roads: SR-410 crash in Sumner turns fatal after driver misses turn and hits vehicle head-on

Both directions of the Snohomish River Bridge will be closed Sunday night so the final detours can be put into place. All northbound drivers will be detoured onto the southbound span starting Monday morning, and it will stay that way for the duration of the work. There will be one lane in each direction.

“We need to do a full closure because we will be removing the pieces that lift the bridge,” Pearce said. “But to allow for maritime traffic, we need to keep the bridge open so we have to leave it in the raised position.”

That will also impact people who walk or bike across the bridge. The walkway on that northbound span will not be available. A 24-hour-a-day shuttle will be available to ferry those people onto the southbound span.

“You’ll be able to go either direction, pick up or drop off either way,” Pearce said. “The service will be in place 24 hours a day. There’ll be a number for you to call to request it. It could be up to a half hour before the shuttle arrives, but there will be a shuttle to take you across.”

There will be cross-overs on either side of the bridge to get drivers into the southbound lane. That will restrict some access for people who use Marine View Drive.

“If you’re headed north, you are going to be able to exit to Marine View Drive,” Pearce said. “However, you’re not going to be able to get on to northbound 529 directly from Marine View Drive.”

Let’s say you’re playing 18 holes at Legion Memorial Golf Course or you’re working at the Amazon Center at the north end of Everett and you want to take northbound 529. You’re going to have to head south on SR-529 from Marine View Drive and use the U-turn detour a few blocks away.

More from Chris Sullivan: Calmer waters ahead for Washington State Ferries?

This work will have a major impact on traffic throughout the area.

“People really ought to stay on northbound or southbound I-5,” Pearce said. “We’re going to see heavier traffic on the freeway. We’re gonna see delays no matter what, but the freeway has a lot more capacity for handling it.”

There is a chance this closure could be pushed for a few days if the weather doesn’t cooperate this weekend. The contractor needs dry weather to put in the final lane striping.

But the weather looks great for the weekend right now.

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The first of five new electric hybrid ferries was supposed to come into service two years ago, but the original contract with Todd Shipyards, now Vigor, fell through. It was the only shipyard to bid on the contract but the price came in double what the state was expecting to pay. The contract was canceled, leaving the ferry system in the precarious position it is today.

It has only 21 boats, and the system has been running at 15. Full service is 26 boats.

Will this contract fair any better?

A major change this time around is the state can look outside of Washington for potential bidders. State Representative Jake Fey, who heads the House Transportation Committee, helped pass a bill last year that allowed for the extra competition.

“We’re looking across the country because we need to get a good price for ferry riders and for the state,” Rep. Fey told KIRO Newsradio in a recent interview. “We’ll see what comes from that.”

Sullivan: May through September is the most deadly period for motorcyclists

If the contract stays on schedule, the first two boats could be on the water in 2028, with two more the following year and the fifth in 2030. This would be the first time since 1967 that boats built outside of Washington would enter the ferry service. The Seattle Times reported there are 15 potential suitors for the contract, including Vigor.

Representative Fey said he’s hopeful it will all come together.

“The ferry system needs some good news and some hope for the future,” he told KIRO Newsradio.  “It took a long time to get into the situation, and it’s going to take a while to get out. We need to start having some good news for ferry riders.”

These new ferries will carry 160 cars, an upgrade from the current 144-car capacity. These first new boats are expected to serve the Mukilteo/Clinton route and the Seattle-Bremerton route.

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This is a shared responsibility. Riders and drivers both need to watch out for each other and share the road. 138 motorcycle riders were killed on Washington roads last year. 131 did not come home from their rides in 2022.

We had a crash involving a motorcycle on northbound Interstate 405 (I-405) just yesterday in Bellevue.

More Chokepoints: Tussling with the future of the US Route 2 trestle

And there is one common denominator when a motorcyclist gets tangled up with a car or a truck: The rider almost always loses. Either wrong place, wrong time or doing something that they shouldn’t have been doing, they ultimately hit a car and due to there being no safety cage around and nothing to really protect you, they end up being seriously injured or passing away,”  Washington State Patrol (WSP) Trooper John Dattilo said.

Trooper Dattilo monitors Pierce and Thurston Counties, which have already had 42 motorcycle crashes this year — two of them fatal.

This time of year, WSP will be stepping up its emphasis patrols on riders.

“Going into the summer, that’s one of the things that we are going to be focusing on, trying to prevent (accidents),” Dattilo said. “Just trying to educate people.”

And motorcyclists need education, or at least a yearly reminder, about lane splitting.

More on motorcycle riding in Washington: Motorcycle lane-splitting is still illegal

It is not legal in Washington. It has never been legal in Washington. It has been discussed by the legislature, but nothing has ever made it out of committee.

“We do not currently have a lane-splitting law in Washington,” Dattilo confirmed. “There are other states, like California, that allow it. We do not here in the state of Washington, but it’s also something that it’s extremely difficult to enforce because the patrol cars are also stuck in traffic. They can’t lane split.”

Not to mention lane-splitting can lead to road rage.

“We’ve seen collisions where people intentionally try to cut off the motorcycles because they’re frustrated,” Dattilo said.

WSP reported 53 motorcycle crashes in King County so far this year, and we are officially in the middle of the most dangerous months for fatal motorcycle accidents.

Advice for drivers: Double-check those blind spots when making lane changes. Pay close attention in slow traffic for riders in front of you as even a little bump from behind can cause serious injuries. And for motorcyclists: Don’t lane split. Don’t hot dog. And most importantly, don’t assume that drivers can see you or even know you are there.

Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints here. You can also follow Chris on X, formerly known as Twitter. Head here to follow KIRO Newsradio Traffic’s profile on X.

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Ask anyone who lives in Lake Stevens what it’s like to get onto the trestle during peak hours, and you’ll likely hear a few swear words. It jams up every morning heading westbound and every afternoon eastbound.

It just doesn’t have the capacity to handle all the people that now live east of Interstate 5 (I-5) along Highway 9. The original bridge was built in the 1930s. It served both directions. A new westbound trestle was completed in 1969. The original bridge, which was eastbound, was replaced in 2001. Now it’s time to replace the westbound trestle.

More from Chokepoints: Sound Transit CEO says ‘it’s my job to restore confidence’ in public transit

Study No. 6 is now underway, with a focus on improving the westbound connection to I-5 which cannot handle today’s traffic.

“The number of westbound lanes has limited capacity at the southbound I-5,” Maraea Skeen, a public information officer for WSDOT, said. “What can we do for the potential for managed lanes,  such as HOV, active transportation,  access to downtown Everett and just generally moving people through the corridor.”

The agency wants your feedback on what potential improvements should be.

“We are at the point where we’re we’re evaluating the needs of what the community needs from the trestle,” Skeen added.

We’re so early in the process that there are no definitive replacement plans or drawings. Earlier projections put building a new three-lane westbound trestle at $1-2 billion, with a lot of that money coming from tolls on the corridor. This public input will help WSDOT direct its plans.

“The feedback from this open house will help us to streamline the process into that review, but it will still be several years before construction will take shape,” Skeen said.

More from Chris Sullivan: Seattle’s traffic circles are not roundabouts

I would put the over/under on when something might be built and completed at about 10 years. The environmental review will be lengthy. The trestle goes across Ebey Island, and that includes crossing the Snohomish River, Ebey Slough and Deadwater Slough.

The online open house will take feedback through June 7.

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Goran Sparrman knows that no one will ride the trains if they don’t feel safe. Sound Transit’s interim CEO told me that has to change.

“I understand why when you read the newspapers or see on the media the kind of unfortunate incidents we’ve had the last three months with two stabbings, one shooting,” he told KIRO Newsradio. “I totally understand why people made that makes people uncomfortable.”

More from Chokepoints: Oversized scissors, shovels used to celebrate I-405 project progress

And it doesn’t matter to riders or concerned potential riders that, overall, the light rail line is safe.

“I will say that our system actually is, relatively speaking, very safe, but what we recognize is that public reception really does matter,” Sparrman said. “When people don’t feel safe, it’s a big concern to us.”

There have been 44 assaults on light rail this year, including the two homicides and an attempted murder. Sound Transit has more than doubled its security force since 2022, and it plans to add more people to that number.

“We have 500 people working on security alone on the Sound Transit system,” Sparrman said. “My job is to make sure we get the maximum bang for the buck on that and frankly restore the confidence that people feel comfortable and safe using our system.”

With the opening of the new starter line between Bellevue and Redmond, riders have noticed a change in security as well. The Bellevue Police Department is patrolling the trains and several stations with six dedicated officers, including a sergeant. In the first month of operations, Bellevue Police report no problems on the trains or stations. The only issue so far was an officer who noticed a rider with an opened container of cannabis. The officer asked the rider to put it away, which he did.

More on Bellevue public transit: Bellevue to have cops on Eastside light rail trains

That has caught Sparrman’s attention. I asked him if we might see other smaller cities follow suit, adding a few dedicated officers in their jurisdictions.

“We are having conversations with other smaller municipalities, and I envision that the conversation with Lynnwood should hopefully bear fruit,” he said.

Light rail will expand into Lynnwood in August so there is still time to hash that out.

Sparrman also said he’s hoping King County will be able to hire more deputies for his transit police, which is not at full staff.

“The budget has staffing of about 80 or so King County sheriff deputies to patrol our system,” Sparrman said. “Unfortunately, they’ve had some recruitment problems, so we only have 40 to 50 on the ground actually working. So I am looking to have a conversation very soon with the King County Sheriff’s office to make sure what can we do to make sure we’ve filled that up so we get our 90 deputies on the trains where we really want them.”

Since I had the chance to speak with Sparrman, I figured I’d ask him how the new 2-Line is doing. So far so good.

“People seem generally really excited about now having light rail transit as an option on the Eastside and, of course, everyone’s very anxious for us to connect line two across the lake to the 1-Line,” he said. “That’s what we’re planning to do by late 2025, so about a year and a half away, and what we’re hearing is a lot of interest in making sure that happens as quickly as possible.”

More from Chris Sullivan: Seattle’s traffic circles are not roundabouts

Sparrman took over for Julie Timm as the head of Sound Transit in January. His term runs through the end of the year.

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It was a rare double feature for WSDOT Monday. A ribbon cutting for a project that just opened and a ceremonial turning of dirt to kick off something new.

At the Brickyard Park and Ride just off I-405 at NE 160th Street, WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar officially kicked off a four-year project to widen I-405 from SR 522 to SR 527 in Canyon Park in Bothell.

“This will enhance the corridor by delivering multimodal improvements that will provide benefits to all of the users in the corridor,  addressing aging infrastructure, stuff we built generations ago and opening fish habitat,” Millar said.

The project includes adding another express toll lane to the system and a complete redesign of the I-405/SR 522 interchange. It also adds and elevated transit stop in the middle of the freeway at Canyon Park.

“This project will give new choices to Eastside communities, whether they take transit or bike or roll or walk or drive,” Millar said.

A significant I-405 project in Kirkland

A few miles to the south, Millar broke out those oversized scissors to celebrate the completion of the new on and off ramps from I-405 at NE 132nd Street at the north end of Totem Lake in Kirkland.

Construction started on this project two years ago and wrapped up earlier this month. It includes two new roundabouts on 132nd to help manage the traffic flow and about a half-mile of new fish habitat.

Kirkland Mayor Kelli Curtis told a small crowd this has been a long time coming.

“Today is a big day in Kirkland, she said.  “It’s a big day for our north end neighborhoods of Kingsgate, Totem Lake, Juanita and Finn Hill. It’s a big day for those in emergency needing to get to EvergreenHealth and other medical facilities. And it’s a huge important day for the salmon of Juanita Creek.”

Curtis hit on the most important part of this project: It opens up access to Evergreen Medical Center from the north. Drivers no longer have to go down to 124th Avenue and deal with all the congestion there.

Dr. Ettore Palazzo is Evergreen’s CEO and was clear this move is crucial for those who need to get to the hospital quickly.

“When we do need to get someone quickly to the hospital for those urgent needs being able to have access like this, specially from the north, is so incredibly critical,” he said. “Time very well can save someone’s life.”

The roundabouts do have an interesting feature that might throw you off at first. These are two lane roundabouts that don’t have two lanes all the way around. You must change lanes if you are trying to take a left at the intersection, and that runs counter to normal rules of a roundabout that requires you to stay in your lane.

It got me on my first attempt, getting off I-405 south at the new 132nd offramp. To continue straight across the the Kingsgate Park and Ride, I had to be in the left of the two lanes at the end of the ramp.

As I went around the circle, I had to move over to the right lane in the roundabout to exit where I wanted.

If this had been a traditional two-lane roundabout, I would have started in the right lane and stayed there to make my exit.

It was a little unnerving, but it is legal, in this situation.

Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints here. You can also follow Chris on X. Head here to follow KIRO Newsradio Traffic’s profile on X.

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We’ve talked about four-way stops and roundabouts already this year, but I received a question from Michael in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood that brought up a similar topic, traffic circles.

More on roundabouts: A course in roundabouts; They are not that hard

Seattle has more than a thousand traffic circles. These are generally neighborhood intersections where the city has installed a barrier in the middle of them that forces people to slow down. In some cases, they are as simple as large planter boxes in the middle of the intersection.

The Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) Ethan Bergerson said they are a simple way to make intersections safer.

“They’re not new,” Bergerson told KIRO Nesradio. “They’re something that we’ve been using for quite some time because they have a good success record for increasing safety.”

Michael in Columbia City asked me why SDOT recently installed stop signs at several of the traffic circles in his neighborhood. He doesn’t think they’re necessary, claiming they slow things down while most drivers just ignore them.

I asked SDOT’s Bergerson why the stop signs were put in.

“Those particular examples are right by a high school so you’ve got that safety need,” he responded. “It’s also on our neighborhood greenways network, which are neighborhood streets, recommended bike routes and have a lot of pedestrians.”

Traffic circles can include stop signs, though they aren’t required. SDOT added them based on traffic data at each individual one.

“When we’re making safety decisions, we will do that based on things like historical traffic data and the need,” Bergerson said. “This intersection being right in front of a high school is a good reason why you want to make sure cars are coming to a full stop there.”

After analyzing the intersections and thinking of Michael’s question, I hit upon something simple. Michael kept referring to these traffic circles as roundabouts.

The question was really more about the stop signs interfering with the traffic flow in a roundabout. And that’s where the confusion comes in. Traffic circles are not roundabouts. The words are not interchangeable, and the rules for navigating them are different.

More from Chokepoints: Airport expansion in high gear as summer travel approaches

At roundabouts, you yield to traffic already in them and then go. In some cases, if no yield is necessary, you can simply enter.

Traffic circles are like four-way stops. They are considered an uncontrolled intersection. You should come to a complete stop before entering. Whoever gets there first, goes first. If two cars get there at the same time, you yield to the car to the right.

If an intersection has a traffic circle and stop sign, they are considered controlled intersections, and you have to stop.

Hope that clears things up.

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“Think opposite” is really the best option for getting through the upper and lower drives at the airport terminal. When picking someone up, head to the departures deck. When dropping off, use the arrivals deck. Going counter to the flow usually gets you through a lot faster.

But if you’ve been to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) recently — like I was yesterday — you’ve likely noticed all the construction on the upper and lower drives just before the terminal. Workers are digging out the west sides of both approaches and installing two new retaining walls, all part of a $79 million project to widen the road into the terminal.

More SEA airport news: 46 arrested after pro-Palestinian protest shut down SEA Airport road for hours

The airport is also adding two lanes to the incoming drive, widening it from four lanes to six lanes.

“We’re going to have two dedicated lanes just into the lower drive, and we’ll have one lane that’ll be for all those courtesy shuttles that will go into the third floor of the garage,” Perry Cooper, senior manager of media relations for the Port of Seattle, told KIRO Newsradio. “We’ll have another lane that will be added on the far outside that will go straight into the airport garage.”

It’s all about reducing congestion at the terminal. Two dedicated lanes to the top deck. Two dedicated lanes to the bottom deck. A lane just for the third-floor ground transportation and one just for garage parking.

The project also includes a new pull-out area for the car rental shuttles, just before the garage. That’s where passengers will load and unload.

“That’s going to be where the rental car facility buses will park, pick you up and take you out to the rental car facility,” Cooper said. “We take those large buses off the driveway on the lower drive and make it more available for regular cars.”

There is already a matching pull-out on the south end of the garage.

“It will hopefully reduce the congestion that we especially see at night from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. evening flights,” Cooper said. “Everybody’s trying to get to that lower drive,” he said.

The off-site parking shuttles will now go to the third floor of the garage with all the other ground transportation.

For airport managers, this is all about squeezing new capacity out of the tiny footprint. Moving the roads a few feet to the west was really the only option for widening the road.

“We got the light rail right there on the east side so how do you add a lane when they got the light rail right there,” Cooper asked. “There’s no space so the only way we can do it is by shoving or creating a new retaining wall space to the west.”

It’s the same mantra for expanding the airport inside the terminal. There is no space to build out. This is not Denver, where the airport has almost unlimited land.

You have likely noticed all the ongoing work near the Alaska Airlines check-in and all the work between the upper and lower floors. The airport is adding check-in services in those in-between spaces.

More from Chris Sullivan: Has tagging met its match with WSDOT’s ‘graffiti-battling’ drone?

And it’s hard to miss the giant crane above the C Concourse.

“You typically don’t see things that tall in the middle of an airfield because you’ve got things flying by,” Cooper said.

The airport is adding four new floors to the concourse, nearly tripling the square footage. Going up is really the only way to expand.

This is all a part of $5 billion in improvements that will continue through 2026.

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It doesn’t have a nickname or fancy acronym, but it’s packed with eight motors, 150 feet of hose, intelligent collision avoidance, two batteries and a six-foot nozzle. If taggers can get there, so can this bad boy.

“This is not your average buy-it-at-Costco drone,” WSDOT’s Mike Gauger said. “This is an industrial-grade aircraft with a six-foot-long wand connected to an airless sprayer that’s capable of lots of pressure.”

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Most drone operators don’t have to worry about a nozzle spraying paint, which adds a whole new bunch of physics to the party, but Gauger is not your average drone operator. He’s the head of WSDOT’s Olympic Region Maintenance Unit and the man who decided to turn a drone into a sword against graffiti.

Gauger has worked with drones for years, using them in bridge maintenance and other applications, but never against graffiti. There are 10 drone pilots in the region, but only two others have the skills to join Gauger at these controls.

“You might be very good at flying one of those drones and have a lot of experience doing it, but it doesn’t qualify you to touch this one,” Gauger said. “It’s a different animal.”

And the reason is the hose that dangles below it. That’s not something most operators have even considered.

“It’s not just a matter of being a normal drone pilot,” Gauger said. “There’s an element of training that needs to go with the tethered aspect of it. Some of the tendencies of drones that people get used to are flying a drone until the battery gets weak and when it’s time, it knows to just come back and land. But a drone doesn’t know that it has a hose attached to it, so having that happen could be detrimental.”

Gauger and his crew have tested the drone five times. The first time over the biggest canvas in Tacoma — the giant wall along Interstate 5 (I-5) just north of Highway 16.

“The first tag was big, 10-12 feet long, and in short order, it was covered,” he said. “Everybody there was smiling.”

If you’re not familiar with that spot on I-5, it’s at the top of a very steep, landscaped hillside with no shoulder at the bottom. It just isn’t safe to put people up there.

“We’re never going to let our employees take the risks that graffiti artists take when they’re up there,” Gauger said.

More from Chris Sullivan: Rest area blues and its dire situation on the I-5 corridor

The drone will be out in Pierce and Thurston Counties for the rest of the year. For Gauger, it’s about finding out if this is the right move to keep his people safe and the roadways clean.

“We’re planning to continue to do our research and actively go out and use it when it makes sense to through the summer and fall,” he said. “By the end of the year, we will produce the results.”

As you would imagine, Gauger’s phone is ringing off the hook from transportation departments around the world to see how it’s going. This is the first graffiti-battling drone in operation, and the world is watching.

“Each time we go out the idea is to learn,” Gauger said. “Is this going to be an acceptable maintenance practice for day-to-day use?”

We shall see.

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A spot paint job and a little lubrication won’t be enough this time to keep the bridge in good shape, even though it was rebuilt in 1994. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is getting ready to shut down the northbound span of the bridge — which is part of Highway 529 between Everett and Marysville — for four months.

But before that happens, WSDOT is going to reduce the northbound direction to just one lane.

It’s not science fiction: A drone that removes graffiti has arrived

“We’re going to reduce the northbound bridge down to one lane starting Monday morning, and that’s going to be the prelude to a full northbound bridge closure which will come up at the end of May,” Tom Pearce, a communications consultant with WSDOT, said.

The four-month-long closure of the northbound span is expected to start May 28.

“We really need to get in and do some more work on the steel and some of the work on the mechanisms that make the bridge function,” Pearce said. “We want to repaint it too because painting is an important part of taking care of a bridge. That helps keep the steel in good shape, and this bridge is 97 years old. We’ve painted it a few times already and this is going to help keep it going.”

When that full closure begins, both directions of Highway 529 will be using the southbound span over the Snohomish River. But the work on the bridges along 529 isn’t the only construction going on between Everett and Marysville.

I-5 improvements between Everett and Marysville

Contractors are in the middle of a massive improvement project on Interstate 5 (I-5). A new northbound HOV lane is under construction. So is a whole new interchange at I-5 and 529. It will provide new on- and off-ramps to the freeway.

Part of this work is concrete improvements on I-5, a reason for WSDOT to close lanes on the highway this weekend. Northbound I-5 will be reduced to just one lane from Friday night through early Monday morning.

“We’re going to remove some asphalt pavement, and we’re going to replace it with concrete,” Pearce said. “That takes a lot of time because we need the concrete to cure and then of course we have to go back and re-stripe it.”

More from Chris Sullivan: Rest area blues and its dire situation on the I-5 corridor

There will be ramp closures too.

“We’ll have the ramp to Pacific Avenue and Marine View Drive closed,” Pearce said. “We’re also going to have the on-ramps from Everett Avenue and U.S. 2 closed in downtown Everett.”

This concrete replacement work is weather dependent so it could be pushed to another weekend.

WSDOT is expected to open the new 529 interchange and new HOV lane in the fall of 2025.

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As you know, I use our rest areas frequently on my trips to Montana. The ones on Interstate 90 are usually in great shape. The ones on Interstate 5 (I-5) closer to Seattle are another story. We have done multiple stories over the years on how some of the rest areas on I-5 have had to be closed for repairs and cleaning because of homeless encampments that have taken them over.

More on Washington’s rest areas: WSDOT claims $500M needed to fix state’s ‘declining’ rest stops

KIRO radio listener Darcia asked me to check into specific rest areas along I-5.

“I request you cover the dire situation with rest areas on the I-5 corridor traveling South from Arlington,” she wrote me. “My dad lives in Belfair and I live in Arlington. When I go to visit, there are virtually no rest areas. Are there plans to open the southbound rest area in Everett? And why wasn’t there a southbound rest area by Federal Way when there is one when traveling north I-5? ”

I know that the southbound rest area at Silver Lake in South Everett well. It’s not too far from my house. It was closed down in 2019 because of a failing roof. There was also damage and vandalism at the site, attributed to a homeless camp at the location. The future of this rest area is still up in the air.

The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) just completed its first full review of the rest areas in 15 years. A study of truck parking is now underway. What happens to the Silver Lake rest area will be decided after this review is finished at the end of the year. Converting it to truck parking only is a possible outcome.

More from Chris Sullivan: A drone that removes graffiti has arrived

According to WSDOT, the need for a rest area there is not as vital. The Silver Lake location ranks 33 out of 47 locations in terms of necessity based on alternative service location availability.

As for the lack of a rest area on southbound I-5 south of Federal Way, WSDOT said it’s not necessary. The reason: Southbound travelers have multiple other stopping opportunities through Seattle and Tacoma.

And don’t expect the state to build one there any time soon. WSDOT doesn’t have the money to build any more. It also doesn’t have the money to fix its existing ones.

According to last year’s review, 87% of the buildings at the state’s rest areas were rated in critical condition, and it’s expected to cost between $375-525 million over the next 15 years to upgrade or renovate them.

Thank you Darcia for the question. It looks like gas stations or fast food restaurants are your pit stop from Arlington to Belfair.

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Maybe I’ve seen “Apocalypse Now” too many times, but that is my vision for this Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) pilot program designed to combat graffiti, especially on bridges and overpasses.

And why not? WSDOT spent $815,000 on graffiti removal in 2023. Workers spent more than 10,000 hours painting over 700,000 square feet of graffiti last year.

The government agency noted in its online story its crews report seeing new graffiti appear “sometimes days or even hours after an area is cleaned.”

More from Chris Sullivan: Bellevue to have cops on Eastside light rail trains

More on the drone that removes graffiti

The machine, built from an Aquiline Endure model, uses a spray nozzle and is linked to a paint supply on the ground. As the agency explains, an operator can position the drone anywhere the tethered hose can reach. The idea is that a drone used this way “makes quick work of painting over graffiti on tall retaining walls, bridges and overpasses.”

Drone No. 1 failed during initial testing, but the newest drone is up and running. It is being tested in Olympia and Tacoma, under control of licensed drone operators inside the Pierce County regional maintenance division.

More Chokepoints content: A guide to restricted parking zones for any confused drivers

The Washington legislature in Olympia passed House Bill 1989 during their session in 2024. The legislation provides WSDOT $1 million to research traffic camera technology for monitoring graffiti removal.

In December, the agency will submit a report to the legislature in December about the findings of the program for further evaluation. WSDOT emphasized in its story that “it will be a while before we know if this is technology that we will implement in the long term.”

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You can expect to see uniformed Bellevue Police officers riding the light rail trains on the Eastside when service between Bellevue and Redmond begins on Saturday, and they are there for one reason.

“They’re there to provide that kind of guardianship and to also make sure that folks know that if there is crime or even the fear of crime we’re here to reduce it,” Bellevue Police’s Drew Anderson said.

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The new BLU unit was created just for this job, thanks to the leadership of the city council.

“We were very fortunate for the city council to give us approval to create this brand new unit,” Anderson said. “There’s going to be five officers, consisting of a sergeant and four actual uniform officers, and it will grow.”

This unit will not be doing fare enforcement, and it will work directly with the King County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the transit police for Sound Transit. The unit will be on the trains and around the six stations inside the Bellevue city limits.

“To make sure to provide riders and families the positive experience on a transit line and to really prevent any crime that could happen in the area,” Anderson said.

Riders are encouraged to report suspicious behavior or activity to this unit, as well as the transit police. Bellevue Police has also been working with other regional first responders to prepare for the inevitable accidents that will happen with this new line opening.

The trains cross several intersections at grade, putting trains, bikes, pedestrians and cars all in harm’s way if the public isn’t paying attention. Light rail has been running through Seattle’s Rainier Valley for years, and there are still accidents caused by cars, people and bikes going in front of trains.

“We are doing our part,” Anderson said. “The system is doing its part, but we’re also asking drivers and pedestrians to do their part. We know that this is new, and what’s the one thing we know when things are new, people are learning a new system,” Anderson. “There’s a little bit of change so we’re asking folks to be more vigilant and know that if there’s a train coming don’t try to dodge the arm.”

More from Chris Sullivan: A guide to Restricted Parking Zones for any confused drivers

The 6.6-mile starter line from the South Bellevue Station to the Redmond Technology Station opens to the public on Saturday. There is a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the downtown Bellevue station at 10 a.m. Service begins around 11 a.m.

The trains will run every 10 minutes from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., seven days a week.

This line will eventually connect to Seattle, over Lake Washington, when construction and testing is complete. That is scheduled to happen in late 2025.

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This isn’t a case of some of those parking poles we all have seen, where there are multiple signs instructing drivers what they can and cannot do. But 97.3 KIRO FM listener Allison asked me about a sign she saw in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood.

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The sign is for two-hour parking from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding Sundays, holidays and those with a zone parking permit.

“What does it mean for parking after 6 p.m.?” Allison asked. “Is it implying that anyone may park for over two hours, or that you must have a zone permit to park for any time after 6 p.m.?”

I reached out to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) for a full explanation.

This one is pretty simple. After 6 p.m., anyone can park in those spots. No permit is needed. Drivers just need to move their cars before the time limit expires the next morning. So if you parked at 6 p.m., you would have until 9 a.m. the next morning to move your car without fear of getting a ticket.

And just a reminder, drivers can only park in the same spot for 72 hours total, even with a restricted parking zone permit.

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“Parking time limits are one of the ways that we help manage parking demand in popular neighborhoods to help make sure that parking spaces are available when people need them,” SDOT stated. “Restricted Parking Zones help ease parking congestion in residential neighborhoods while balancing the needs of all people to be able to use the public streets. During the times when the permit restrictions are in effect, it prioritizes on-street parking for neighborhood residents so that they can leave their cars on the street if they are at home or getting around without a car while providing short-term parking options for people visiting businesses, schools, churches, parks and other nearby destinations.”

For more information about the Restricted Parking Zone Program and how residents can obtain a permit, check out SDOT’s page here.

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The state is widening both directions of 405 from about 160th at the north end of Kirkland to Highway 527 in Canyon Park. The new lane in each direction will be added to the existing one-lane express toll lane.

This spot is where my kazoo got its start because the tolls could not keep up with the amount of cars on that stretch of I-405. The toll lane continues to hit the $15 max nearly every day there because it’s so crowded.

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This expansion will also come with a redesigned 405/522 interchange to help manage the flow there. The Washington Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Craig Smiley said there isn’t a lot of room to make huge changes there.

“That interchange at 522 has a lot of constraints,” he said. “There’s a lot of flyover bridges and different things going on there. You got the Sammamish Slough, so it’s really a challenge to get additional capacity through there.”

But WSDOT plans to move some of those ramps. Drivers have noticed all the trees being removed on the east side of the freeway recently.

“We’ll be adding additional capacity from that northbound to eastbound ramp that’s been a challenge for a long time,” Smiley said. “That will have some additional capacity there and hopefully help out with that movement.”

Contractors will also be doing some other work on the corridor as well.

“We’re taking care of some of those culverts that don’t allow fish to go underneath the freeway,” Smiley said. “That’s a pretty big part of the project, and it also builds structures and bus rapid transit stations so infrastructure to support Bus Rapid Transit.”

To make this all happen, there are going to be a bunch of road and ramp closures during the project. The first was last weekend. There will be another one this weekend on Highway 522.

WSDOT’s Lauren Penning said all eastbound lanes near 405 will be closed to create a work zone.

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“It’ll be 10 p.m. on Friday, April 19 to 4 a.m. Monday, April 22,” she said. “We’ll have all eastbound 522 closed and one lane of westbound right by the I-405 interchange there.”

For drivers heading east out of downtown Bothell who want to head into Woodinville, you’re going to have to use a detour to get there.

“Drivers heading eastbound will be detoured off onto southbound 405 to take the northeast 160th street exit,” Penning said. “You will cross over the freeway and then get on north 405 and continue at the 522 interchange.”

Don’t expect much relief over the short term. This $834 million expansion isn’t set to finish until 2028.

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