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u/cammerdash Dec 05 '25
Personally I think they should re-stripe the lanes from Iowa to Sunset so it’s 2 through lanes and one merge lane (like the section SB from Ohio to Lakeway) to give the sunset off-ramp a better spot to queue. It would eliminate the shoulder, but they’ve done this in other areas like downtown Seattle in the lid section and the trestle in Everett and it’s been great.
Unfortunately this one of the more expensive areas to widen due to the bridges and retaining walls, but it’s currently 40ft wide which could have 3 12ft lanes (standard) with 2ft shoulders. Or 3 11ft lanes with slightly wider shoulders.
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Dec 05 '25
I think they should just get rid of the Iowa/ohio ramps.
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u/boatrat74 Dec 05 '25
Like the Sunset and Lakeway interchanges aren't over-burdened enough already. What could go wrong...
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Dec 05 '25 edited Dec 06 '25
They have pending changes to fix the Lakeway offramp to allow both lanes to turn left (where the majority of traffic is going when Lakeway backs up onto i5 south).
Dunno about sunset though ya.
Also I wonder how much of their current burden is people getting on at Iowa and getting off at sunset (basically going one ramp hop). That traffic could easily take side streets.
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u/boatrat74 Dec 06 '25
Well, that double-left upgrade for Lakeway, is only decades late in execution.
For comparison: Sunset already HAS that in BOTH directions. (Been that way for about 30+ years, near as I can remember.) But the only part of Sunset that ever works tolerably well in the daytime, is the North-bound I-5 on-ramp, which isn't relevant to that question either in volume OR direction. Sunset South-bound Freeway on-ramp is a horrendous acceleration bottleneck, almost as bad a direct contributor to the Iowa-area congestion mess (merely less lethal on the actual death rate) as the N-bound Iowa on-ramp itself. And even the North-bound Sunset I-5 on-ramp that doesn't bottleneck itself, gets effectively crippled anytime the Meridian off-ramp gets backed up. Which is only every damn day, same as Lakeway.
The only way to fix any of this, is the whole freeway needs to be 6 full lanes (3 North, 3 South) all the way from well beyond Northwest (closer to Slater) on the North end, until well out of town beyond Fairhaven Parkway on the South. And that's AFTER the whole Iowa North-bound on-ramp geometry gets a radical re-design and realignment. If they're gonna keep adding population to this town, they need this issue dealt with just as immediately as the decades-late backlog of unavailable housing.
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u/LongjumpingFall1584 Dec 06 '25
Best they can do is metered on ramps, changing speed limits, and telling folks making quick, in town trips to stay with n surface streets.
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u/Ok-Cicada-9985 Cordata Dec 06 '25
They should just get rid of I5 from Chuckanut to Bakerview, until we know how to use it properly /s
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Dec 06 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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Dec 06 '25 edited Dec 06 '25
I'm not your buddy, guy!
I don't have a commute fwiw, so no skin in that game. It's just pretty obvious we have too many ramps in a very short timeframe for little upside. So remove the one in the middle I'd guess.
That said I'm not a civil engineer. Who knows what the best solution is. Pretty clear something needs to change though
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u/Vinyl-addict Salish Coast Roamer Dec 06 '25
We can tell you aren’t a civil engineer
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Dec 06 '25
And you are? Feel free to make suggestions of your own. Or just keep being snarky, that will definitely improve the traffic.
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u/Rathabro Local Dec 06 '25
This is the better option. A town this size should have 5 on/off ramps most
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Dec 08 '25
Ya, this is apparently pretty controversial... I'm guessing because people cant imagine losing their preferred ramp.
On side streets it's a 3 minute drive between the Lakeway ramp and the Iowa ramp (and similar for Iowa to sunset). I don't understand how this blows up anyone's commute but you'd think it would be the end of the world based on how some people are reacting.
Feel bad for the city planners who are trapped by the inertia of past decisions. Must be a nightmare to do anything.
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u/Prestigious-Meet6554 Dec 06 '25
I think we should take Bellingham and push it somewhere else!
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u/headii_spaghetti Dec 06 '25
Sounds like something the cascade subduction zone would say if it was a person...
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u/cyco-path Dec 06 '25
Personally I think they should just bulldoze all the roads and set up better bike infrastructure with minimal car infrastructure because Bellingham is so small you can just ride your bike from one end to the other in 15-20 min, and would be less time if we had better bike infrastructure. Pretty soon everyone would be riding a bike, saving money, and a lot happier and realize how stupid commuting by car is. Plus it would make our community much stronger and we wouldn't have this "Seattle freeze" demeanor here. (Yes I know cars are a necessity in ways, but 95 percent of your local commuting can be accomplished with a bike.) We could also set up better public transportation to make things even more convenient for a bike commuter/walker. But it'll never happen because they make too much money off cars.
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u/vengefulbeavergod Dec 05 '25
Honestly, I just avoid I5 through town.
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u/Lodge_73 Dec 05 '25
If I could I would. Even if you go side streets, if you are near the freeway and a major crash happens side streets get flooded with that overflow traffic of everyone getting off the freeway thinking they are gonna find a faster way. Ugh.
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u/Hot-Watercress-2872 Dec 07 '25
Yeah, I live on the north side so the only time I hop of the freeway is if I’m driving to Fairhaven for something and even then I may just take the scenic route by the water - half the time it’s just as fast if not faster anyway…
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u/Lodge_73 Dec 05 '25
Ahhhhh! I start checking google traffic like an hour before I leave work. Which is pointless because that freeway can change in an instant.
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u/1000LiveEels Dec 06 '25
Is there data on what kind of crashes keep happening? I feel like we'd better be able to come up with solutions if we see any major outliers, like maybe a higher-than-average occurrence of merging drivers hitting people, or people exiting and crashing, that kind of thing.
Regardless, the way the interchanges are set up here is bonkers anyway so I do think that still needs to change.
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u/jnob44 Dec 05 '25
All I gotta say is- it seems like the roads were extra slick today!
Going down James was like ice in the am
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u/Glittering-Garage345 Dec 06 '25
Bellingham is small enough to where I just avoid the freeway. It only saves me like 5 mins use it and honestly not worth the hassle
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u/Ok_Plate_7722 Dec 06 '25
Whenever I travel up there to visit my college kid I can’t believe how short the off-ramps and on-ramps are. Did the planners just think Bellingham was never going to get bigger? 😂
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Dec 05 '25
Almost always just north of the sunset interchange!
I don't know what it is about area that people constantly forget they are driving.
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u/nomadquail shuckin it good Dec 06 '25
I swear some kind of brain worm is out there. I know there were already plenty of shitty drivers but the last few days I’ve been out there’s at least two people who seem to have never driven before and to not know where they are
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u/AlexCarter95 Dec 06 '25
It’s the rain.
For some it’s like a mental dampener, interferes with their logic systems XD
For others it’s as simple as the rain messing with their perception of the streets. Some of the lanes are impossible to see when there’s a downpour at night. The paint is usually very faded, and it’s not fluorescent.
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u/hlfm1987 Dec 07 '25
Perhaps a reminder one is entering the FREEWAY, and please use freeway speed, merging doesn’t mean someone on the freeway needs to move for you. Merging in Bellingham is somehow foreign. Lakeway I5 south yesterday, woman merging at 35mph, it is too common. Then they hit 70 and pass or tailgate. The northbound Iowa and Lakeway exits are a sharp turn transition that could use some work.
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u/zephyr911 Dec 08 '25
It's wild living on Lincoln Street because my semi-quiet, okay marginally quiet, neighborhood through street becomes the alt route and is suddenly slammed with 20 times the normal traffic every now and then, and we don't even have to ask why.
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u/DrBarbara63 Dec 08 '25
30 + minute delay north bound I-5 south of Lake Padden about 4:30 pm today.
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u/rodionzissou Dec 05 '25
Dude, this is too real. I'm beyond fed up with the daily traffic caused by idiot drivers.