On a recent Friday, returning from the Hillsboro area about 12:30 p.m., I chose Sunset Highway. Bad idea. From before Sylvan Hills to the tunnel, bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go, and no obstructions to traffic. Well, actually there were major obstructions to traffic and that is the design of the “freeway.” Several onramps merging with no extra merge lanes and the narrowing down to only one lane to get onto Interstate 405 creates the backup.
I found the same thing when I finally got onto Interstate 5. Many onramps, no extra lanes to handle the increased traffic. Stop-and-go traffic from the I-405 on ramp to the bridge, where the traffic actually moved to nearly the speed limit.
The bridge is not the major problem. The “freeway” design in Oregon is.
Everett Turner
Vancouver
