I've been doing some research lately on Seattle. I live in Wisconsin and am hopefully looking to move to Washington here in the next few years. Please help me. Does anyone know what the traffic might be like. Is it a good idea to drive there or am I better off to just fly. I know that the drive alone from Wisconsin to Washington is a little over 2000 miles but I am willing to travel by vehicle. If anyone has any answers that would be Excellent. Thanks.What is the traffic like in or aroudn the area of Seattle, Washington?
Other answers have agreed that traffic in and around Seattle, particularly on the freeways, is amongst the worst in the nation, and they're correct. It's that way for three reasons, and I say this both as someone who was born here and has lived here most of his life, and as someone who has lived in other countries: Traffic is bad here because of horrible traffic planning (main freeways and thoroughfares, street conditions, mediocre public transportation), overpopulation (people are moving into this state and especially this area from everywhere and are summarily clogging up the streets), and the third reason, which most people don't seem to realize or else disagree with, is because Americans, as a group, are horrible, horrible drivers... at least the ones around here are. People around here do not seem to know or care that left lanes are for PASSING, not for cruising or lollygagging around. If you do have to pass, more often than not you're forced to pass on the right; and half the time the offending driver will see you trying to pass and will speed up, probably due to some troglodytic ego. You shouldn't have to be forced to play the weaving game just to pass people, but you're forced to here. That, and drivers here are completely oblivious; most of them suffer from a condition I've come to refer to as "Thumb-in-Butt Syndrome". If you drive on the freeways around Seattle--especially during rush hour--you'll know why. It's illegal now to be holding a phone to your ear and be yacking away absentmindedly, but people still do it. It's illegal to plop your butt in the left lane without a need to pass, particularly if people are forced to pass on your right... but people here still do it. It's illegal to race people because you don't want to be passed... but people here still do it. It's illegal to dart back and forth between lanes without signaling, but people here still do it. It's illegal to pop into the HOV lanes for any reason if you're the only one in the car, but people here still do it. There are plenty of other examples, none of which are helped by the fact that we have so many rude or oblivious drivers--or both--around here. I've been to 22 countries, driven in 20 of them, and lived in 3 of them; and I can confidently say that of all of those countries, Americans are soundly at the bottom of the least in terms of quality, safety, and predictability as drivers, above only one other country's drivers: Iraq's. Even Kuwait, France, Italy, and many other countries that Americans would think have terrible drivers, have far better drivers than we do. I'm serious about this; if all of the drivers in and around Seattle drove exactly like Germans, for example, even with the poor quality of roads, bad planning, and amount of people on the road, we probably wouldn't have the problems we have now every day, including traffic jams--or at least nowhere near as severe, not to mention not nearly as many accidents. I'm sure more than a few people who read this will likely disagree with me; but I question how much experience they actually have driving in other countries (going on the occasional vacation here and there doesn't give you insight into another country's driving culture).
I live near there. It really all depends it can take me anywhere from a half hour to 3 hours to get to seatle. It really depends on the time of day and if there are any accidents or road work.What is the traffic like in or aroudn the area of Seattle, Washington?
I live just north of Seattle. Washington is one of the most beautiful states there is. Seattle is one of the most awesome cities there is however, the traffic SUCKS!!
I live in Tacoma, but I have often commuted to Seattle and Bellevue. The traffic is absolutely horrendous. On a day with no traffic, just a steady flow of vehicles, it only takes me 45 minutes to get from Tacoma to Seattle. During rush-hour, it can take upwards of two hours to get home.
Seattle Traffic is one of the worst in the nation. Our roads were planned poorly and because of it we have a very bad traffic issue on the freeways and in the city and surrounding cities.
Well you can drive from Wisconsin to Washington if you want...But I wouldn't recommend you driving in Seattle because it's really really busy. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is a really great place to live if you like being able to experience new things. But it's mainly industries in Seattle and apartments. So uh...drive to Washington but don't drive in Seattle.
Well, if you are talking about the drive from Wisconsin to Washington, I think that you should definitely take the drive instead of the plane. It's just such a more enjoyable experience and you really get to see the land instead of just flying over in a few hours and arriving. There will be long stretches without much of anything or traffic along the way. You can run 90 all the way or 94 onto 90 and take the long stretch over. It's a great experience to stop at smaller towns along the way and really see the country.
Once you get to Seattle, traffic is not great. Further, traffic can be downright awful. It's going to depend on where you live, where you commute to, and what time you need to make those commutes, but if you are working during normal business hours in and around Seattle, you can expect a good bit of traffic along your commute. I've got hopes that the public transit system will continue to improve and we will be able to implement better solutions for public transit, so hopefully in a few years, there will be better options or at the least, better bus coverage, which is already pretty good in most heavily-trafficked areas.
