Anacortes Hwy 20 Construction on now

C

chromer

New member
Hi,

Just want to make people aware of likely slowdowns as you come to Anacortes from Burlington. They are building 2 roundabouts and paving the road from Safeway to the Ferry terminal. All should be complete sometime in July 2018. If you are planning on going to Cornet Bay or Washington Park launches, Cap Sante or Skyline, it may take awhile. You probably be affected going to FH CBGT if you come through Anacortes. Project plan and dates are below. First roundabout started today a little south of Sharpes Corner


https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR20/ ... esigns.htm
 
Saw this on facebook the other day. looks like a good idea but it will be a pain until it is finished. Many times that we have driven to cornet bay to launch we have sat at the light on hwy 2 for half a hour. That backs left turn traffic up in to the left hwy lane. You end up with thru traffic trying to get over into the right lane at 60 mph and not hit you. This improvement is really needed but will be a pain until finished.
 
Colby,

Basically, you can't get to Anacortes from Seattle without going thru this intersection. There are games you could play, but they probably wouldn't be worth it.
 
Amazing to me that cities are still putting in these "Traffic Calming" devices. There has been one at a 5 point intersection of Hwy 101 and 3 other major streets in Long Beach CA. Los Alamitos Traffic Circle which was put in place for the 1932 Olympic crew venue at Marine Stadium nearby. For years there was one court room which had a large diagram of the circle so the numerous accident victims didn't have to attempt to draw it. It has gotten safer, since at least one of the roads has been diverted, and the incoming traffic limited to one lane from each highway. It still can be terrifying to someone who is not used to these. They were tried in several areas in Pensacola,--and most were removed--those that remain have their traffic patterns modified.

Maybe it will work in your area and be worth the costs and trouble it causes.
 
We had a major choke point here, where Hwy 30/101 teed against SR202, west end of Astoria. A light there would have mandated one or another traffic stream would have to stop, then start. After much debate and more doubt, a roundabout replaced the whole thing ... a "small" one. Worked fine, metering small gluts of traffic, with every stream slowing down, and yielding to traffic in the circle, maybe 15 years. Everybody more or less happy.

Then, we got discovered ... and now the thing is so overloaded at peak traffic times that we routinely use an alternate highway to circumvent the whole shebang..

Bottom line: these things have a maximum throughput capacity, beyond which they become a circle version of gridlock ... circlelock? Those roads intersecting with SR 20 near Anacortes ... aren't they pretty much overloaded st peak traffic flows, pretty much every day, summertime?
 
smckean (Tosca)":9sfajzgx said:
Colby,

Basically, you can't get to Anacortes from Seattle without going thru this intersection. There are games you could play, but they probably wouldn't be worth it.
Click to expand...

Colby, You could take the Mukilteo ferry over to Whidby Island, go up the island hiway and launch from Deception at Cornet Bay. Or you could still launch from Sequim.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_070.thumb.jpg
 
I like the idea of the sling launch in keeping the trailer out of salt water. But if I have access to a fresh water hose to rinse stuff off, I can live with that. Also, need relatively safe and secure, preferably inexpensive parking for about 5 or 6 weeks. I'm sort of familiar with Cap Sante, but also open to others common knowledge or experience with other places. Seems like traffic can be a hassle anywhere. The next best thing would be, what's the best time to hit that area going into Anacortes? My wife will fly in to SEA on the 15th around 1 pm. I really hadn't planned to launch until the 16th, so I've pretty much got plenty of time. If hitting there late in the afternoon or evening works better, I can do that. (I.e., I can pick my wife up, then get the hell out of the airport area before rush hour begins, and just go sit somewhere a little more quiet, until rush hour is over again, before heading thru that area at Anacortes. Colby
 
I looked into Cornet Bay and there are some costs that I wasn't expecting. You need to have a WA Discover Card to launch (in addition to the launch fee), which is something that I always get with my fishing licence, but it would be quite an additional cost for somebody from out-of-state. Parking appears to be $10 a day??? Somehow Parks and Rec made a little boat ramp in the woods more expensive than a sling launch at an Anacortes marina. Add to that the $62 ferry fee from Port Townsend (to avoid Sharpe's Corner) and I would spend more launching my boat than I would on fuel cruising for three days.

Mark
 
I believe that traveling from Burlington on Highway 20 to Anacortes will be of little impact in your travel time. They plan on leaving the far right lane as a pass thru not affected by the traffic circle. I think you will be fine traveling that way.
As far as Coronet Bay that is a little more complicated. I had the privilege of getting caught in the traffic on the first day of construction. If you want to get to Coronet Bay during normal hours I believe the best way is to go to Anacortes and then take the road to Pass Lake by Deception Pass Bridge. It may add about a half hour but I think it will be far quicker.
As far as bypassing Seattle and coming up Highway 101 and taking the ferry may skip Seattle but adds a large fee on the ferry.
 
I have to disagree with Tom as far as the need for the traffic circle. I have come thru that intersection many, many times at different times in the last few years and have never had even close to a half hour wait. They could of solved the problem by just extending the left turn lane further up Highway 20.
From the rumors I have heard the circle on top of the hill is being put in so school buses can make the left had turn with out waiting so long at the stop sign. Not sure if this is valid but have heard it more than once.
 
They could have extended the left lane another half mile but they did not. The traffic going to cornet bay on a Friday , just about the only day I go, has been scary for two years. This is not a new problem. I have been just waiting to get rear ended by some one with head up ass doing 60 as they come down that hill.

As for traffic circles in general. This area is crawling with them. There are 5 with in Marysville alone. Its Wdot favorite answer to any congestion real or imagined. I was not a fan of them but have gotten to like them as long as you watch out for the Canadians. All the locals have learned how to use them but their are still a few wrecks. In the last year I have had two older Canadians going the wrong way around the circle try to hit me head on in their pickup trucks. One gave me the finger the other did not even notice he was going the wrong way. the first time I was on the gold wing. Crazy.
 
I agree with Bob and Dave. This traffic circle is going to try to handle large amounts of traffic including a lot of semi traffic heading to the island. You are creating a choke point in two directions that now is only in one direction. I do not see how this will help traffic.
Anyone would have problems with a traffic circle if they had never seen one before no matter what country they are from.
 
We will see. If you look at the plans you will see that its a big circle but all the traffic does not go thru the circle. if you are headed to anacortes on 20 you go to the right thru a by pass. Which is something I have not seen before. That is in the final plan as well as during construction.
 
thataway":2omz3j73 said:
. . . It still can be terrifying to someone who is not used to these. . . .
Click to expand...

That, Bob, is an understatement! :shock:

My introduction to traffic circles came in 1970 while driving a US Army deuce-and-a-half in Korea. It was probably the single most disconcerting few moments of my life, before or since. There were buses, taxis, three-wheeled trucks, bicycles, and donkey carts each attempting to go at its respective top end speed, and swerving around anything ahead of it going slower. My particular vehicle was not known for its agility. Merging consisted mainly of inching left and hoping. I went twice around before I figured out which of the six exits was mine.

On the way back to base in that truck I was caught in a student demonstration/riot against the government, and was tear gassed by the national police. Honestly, that experience was not nearly as hair raising as the traffic circle.

Although I have now become something of a fan of traffic circles in many places, like anything else they can be overused, miss-located, or under-engineered. There is a good example of this on the west-side hill in Olympia. The circle is on a steep slope and has much too small of a diameter. It sits in the middle of a route used regularly by logging trucks. Full load + tight turn + steep hill = multiple turnovers.

I hope the Hwy 20 addition works out well.
 
Circle involvement for the new Sharpes CIrcle

1. Anacortes to Burlington
2. Burlington to Oak Harbor
3. Oak Harbor to Anacortes
Note: A complete U-turn to your origin point requires the circle

Partial involvement, just a right turn lane
4. Anacortes to Oak Harbor
5. Oak Harbor to Burlington

Bypass - no circle involvement
6. Burlington to Anacortes
 
I think this will be an improvement the way its laid out. Right now the worst traffic is on Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. going either way has taken us several turns of the light to get thru. after this is built it will not require a light at all and using the circle itself in only one direction as Dwight points out. For once I think that wdot , I know its a shock, is getting in front of the problem. Oak harbor and the base are growing so fast that most of the personal that live off base are moving to Mt vernon because there is not enough housing in oak harbor. Snohomish county is going to add 200k people in the next 8 years. Skagit will get about 80k or so. Seattle is full and there is only room to move out , mostly north. like it or not that is the future. DR horton homes is selling new construction 3000sq ft homes on 5000ft lots in bothell for 1.2 million each. They are sold out.
 
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