I-5 S, Short Lived Rush Hour Heaven
I am sure most of you remember the announcement in the spring that Portland traffic from construction “will be so bad that ODOT recommends planning a vacation during that time or asking to work from home (Ault "I-84 summer construction: 'Great time for a vacation'" 2018).” They were not wrong. Now that all that summer construction is mostly ending, what changed?
I commute for work from Oregon City to Beaverton. My commute includes I-205, I-5, and 217. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work, and 75 minutes to get home. Each of these freeways has their own unique traffic and bottlenecks. All summer I watched the construction on I-5 south change and assumed it was just new paving.
Then one day I was driving home and there was no traffic on I-5. I was driving 55 MPH on I-5 at 5:00 PM! All that time waiting through the construction was worth it, but what changed, and how long would it last?
Most of the traffic built up on 217S and I-5S is created from these two roads merging. Before, both lanes from 217S had to merge into the three lanes on I-5S if they were not immediately exiting. Now, when 217 merges with I-5S it creates its own lane and this lane continues all the way to I-205N.
ODOT calls this an auxiliary lane. “Auxiliary lanes separate on- and off-ramp merging from through traffic. They require less weaving and merging, reducing congestion in all lanes ("I-5: Paving and Auxiliary Lane Project")”
For me, this means that I can stay in the same lane from 217S on to I-5S all the way to I-205N! This change shortened my commute home to about 50 minutes (I-205N to Oregon CIty is still a dumpster fire of traffic during rush hour).
(Image from "I-5: Paving and Auxiliary Lane Project")
From our reading, “Rethinking Traffic Congestion,” Brian D. Taylor proposed ten challenges to ideas about traffic congestion. In his fifth proposition, “The effects of latent/induced demand are not confined to capacity expansion,” he explains traffic has an equilibrium and how if the allowed supply of cars may increase, it is only a matter of time before the demand catches up and surpasses it again, thus traffic will go right back to where it was.
While this was somewhat disheartening to read for my commute, I expected to be able to enjoy this new 5:00 PM rush hour freedom for a few months.
Two days later traffic was at a standstill at 5:00 PM. It was short lived, and some days of my commute are better than others. So was this road expansion worth it? I think it was and I think Brian Taylor would think so, too.
This new auxiliary lane requires less lane changing which makes for a safer road. It also creates a better connection between Beaverton and Tualatin which accommodates more social and economic activity, so for one example is that it is easier to get to Bridgeport Mall area.
To wrap this up, complaining about traffic is hard when I am part of the problem and I am not willing to change my transportation mode. Most people think of traffic as an urban problem and a burden that needs to be fixed, however, “Rethinking Traffic Congestion” helped change my perspective of this. Taylor writes, “I think we should recognize that traffic congestion is an inevitable by-product of vibrant, successful cities…” Now when I am sitting in traffic I try to think about how lucky I am to live in a successful city and how I am surrounded by thousands of people who are likely employed and have homes they are going to. Sitting in traffic still isn’t fun, but it helps.
References:
Ault, Trevor. “I-84 Summer Construction: 'Great Time for a Vacation'.” KOIN, 26 Apr. 2018, www.koin.com/news/traffic/i-84-summer-construction-great-time-for-a-vacation/1143046209.
“I-5: Paving and Auxiliary Lane Project.” Oregon Department of Transportation : Project Details : Projects : State of Oregon, www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=18836.
Taylor, Brian D. “Rethinking Traffic Congestion,”; Access, 21: 8-16, Fall 2002.
Edited by: Sarah F.
I commute for work from Oregon City to Beaverton. My commute includes I-205, I-5, and 217. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work, and 75 minutes to get home. Each of these freeways has their own unique traffic and bottlenecks. All summer I watched the construction on I-5 south change and assumed it was just new paving.
Then one day I was driving home and there was no traffic on I-5. I was driving 55 MPH on I-5 at 5:00 PM! All that time waiting through the construction was worth it, but what changed, and how long would it last?
Most of the traffic built up on 217S and I-5S is created from these two roads merging. Before, both lanes from 217S had to merge into the three lanes on I-5S if they were not immediately exiting. Now, when 217 merges with I-5S it creates its own lane and this lane continues all the way to I-205N.
ODOT calls this an auxiliary lane. “Auxiliary lanes separate on- and off-ramp merging from through traffic. They require less weaving and merging, reducing congestion in all lanes ("I-5: Paving and Auxiliary Lane Project")”
For me, this means that I can stay in the same lane from 217S on to I-5S all the way to I-205N! This change shortened my commute home to about 50 minutes (I-205N to Oregon CIty is still a dumpster fire of traffic during rush hour).
(Image from "I-5: Paving and Auxiliary Lane Project")
From our reading, “Rethinking Traffic Congestion,” Brian D. Taylor proposed ten challenges to ideas about traffic congestion. In his fifth proposition, “The effects of latent/induced demand are not confined to capacity expansion,” he explains traffic has an equilibrium and how if the allowed supply of cars may increase, it is only a matter of time before the demand catches up and surpasses it again, thus traffic will go right back to where it was.
While this was somewhat disheartening to read for my commute, I expected to be able to enjoy this new 5:00 PM rush hour freedom for a few months.
Two days later traffic was at a standstill at 5:00 PM. It was short lived, and some days of my commute are better than others. So was this road expansion worth it? I think it was and I think Brian Taylor would think so, too.
This new auxiliary lane requires less lane changing which makes for a safer road. It also creates a better connection between Beaverton and Tualatin which accommodates more social and economic activity, so for one example is that it is easier to get to Bridgeport Mall area.
To wrap this up, complaining about traffic is hard when I am part of the problem and I am not willing to change my transportation mode. Most people think of traffic as an urban problem and a burden that needs to be fixed, however, “Rethinking Traffic Congestion” helped change my perspective of this. Taylor writes, “I think we should recognize that traffic congestion is an inevitable by-product of vibrant, successful cities…” Now when I am sitting in traffic I try to think about how lucky I am to live in a successful city and how I am surrounded by thousands of people who are likely employed and have homes they are going to. Sitting in traffic still isn’t fun, but it helps.
References:
Ault, Trevor. “I-84 Summer Construction: 'Great Time for a Vacation'.” KOIN, 26 Apr. 2018, www.koin.com/news/traffic/i-84-summer-construction-great-time-for-a-vacation/1143046209.
“I-5: Paving and Auxiliary Lane Project.” Oregon Department of Transportation : Project Details : Projects : State of Oregon, www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=18836.
Taylor, Brian D. “Rethinking Traffic Congestion,”; Access, 21: 8-16, Fall 2002.
Edited by: Sarah F.
I can't agree with you more, sitting in traffic is not fun at all. Although adding the auxiliary lane may not be the solution for all the traffic problems along your way but it definitely increased the road safety and capacity(about 1500 vehicles per lane). There are so many accidents caused by weaving movements in the highway which this auxiliary lane is going to be a good safety improvement.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow I-5 commuter I strongly relate to this post and will try to think about the successful city idea on my next drive. Could it be possible that the auxiliary lane did help traffic, but when people saw I-5 traffic decrease more people considered changing their commute to include the interstate?
ReplyDelete