Just saw that "they" are going to require some more structured training for new licensees next year.... Mixed feelings on this: surely enough bad drivers out there but going to make it harder for us boot strappers/small towners to get a CDL now....
I was born at the right time. I just renewed mine two weeks ago, the last time for me.
Yep starting Feb 2022 you must have schooling of so many hours to get a CDL, if you already have a CDL and want to add endorsements you don't need it. They have been kicking that can down the road for years, but now Pete Buttplug is in it's going to be enforced. Taking away opportunity for those who can do without needing to take a class or go to school, it's all about the money.
Also forgot to add all disabled veterans will be thrown under the bus that want a CDL for whatever reason, not all disabled veterans are physically/mentally disabled they can't use a a semi for whatever reason or a pick up truck requiring a CDL to haul whatever is in range. There is convoluted line on knowing what you can and can't do when you have been stamped a "disabled" veteran and multiple reasons from physically to mental from 10% to 100%. One thing is for sure there is a line somewhere in the bureaucracy that states, if you can take a class or attend a school or anything of that nature i.e. workshop course you will be either de-rated or dropped completely from your "disability" and some cases must pay back. They wonder why more combat vets have died of suicide than have been killed in all wars post 9/11 it's cause they expect us to go from full throttle killing and on missions to sitting in a house/apartment rotting away doing nothing, I know cause it's how I live life now, tip toeing the line never knowing when or if.
Problem with the so-called driver shortage the industry has a high number of drivers over 65. And of those over 65 many are being passed on driver physicals that wouldn't have passed 8 years ago. Some may find that hard to believe but it's a fact. We have eight drivers that need to hang it up. One reason trucks like ours have started running auto chains-drivers too old to handle installing chains. And out of the eight 7 have some sort of medical condition. Everyone of our rigs have to have a inverter because 35% of the drivers have a C-Pap machine. I figure the next item I will have to install is a lift for the scooter chairs and walkers. it's really a pathetic situation plus not funny.
Problem with the so-called driver shortage the industry has a high number of drivers under 40 And of those under 40 many are being passed on driver physicals that wouldn't have passed 8 years ago. Some may find that hard to believe but it's a fact. We have eight drivers that need to hang it up. One reason trucks like ours have started running auto chains-drivers too weak to handle installing chains. And out of the eight 7 have some sort of mental condition. Everyone of our rigs have to have a inverter because 35% of the drivers have a social media addiction. I figure the next item I will have to install is a lift cause they are out of shape and is discriminatory to not have one. it's really a pathetic situation plus not funny. It’s a slippery slope…
I have one driver working toward his, and I've told my son if he wants one, now would be the time. Its going to really limit drivers coming in, if everyone has to take a 6 week course to get it.
Near where I live there's a wheelchair bound owner driver who's terrific at his job. He pulls a semi tipper and won't allow others to help like cleaning the rear of the trailer after dumping a load. Would he be banned from driving in the US?
Now that is funny
Yes.
Have noyed here in MO, newbies go to take driving tests, fail repeatedly, they go to the six week course the driving test is waived as they are "Trained". Not hardly fair.
That is very sad
In order to have a CDL here-class A covers doubles and triples which could mean handling dolly's, plus if for any reason a doctor sees the need for a stress test you have to be able to perform it. You have to be able to tilt the hood, do full pre-trip, and install chains if necessary. Plus insurance companies have a say.
I believe class A is the basic license for anything over 26,001 pounds. Endorsements have to be added for things like air brakes, hazardous materials, doubles and triples and so on and so forth. You do the sleep test if you neck is too thick. You have to have a physical from a certified doctor at least every two years. Last time I took a man in for a driving test he had to do the pre-trip reciting everything to check and the items that would cause the truck not to be driven. Any mistakes or omissions and the test ended there. Driving test after that required double clutching the transmission shifts and all the usual highway shenanigans that the tester thru at him. That included backing down between a set of lines like parking at a dock. That was just for a class B license. I suppose that now that it is private testers only, one can pay to pass the test.
My Class A has Multiple Trailer endorsement code on it. Here a Standard basic Class A will get ability to operate a single trailer tractor trailer.
Bring back the trains all the Truck drivers could become hobos. The oldest driver were i work is retiring at the end of the summer they have been looking for a driver for 6 months.
Class A-Any CMV tractor/trailer combination where GCWR is 26,001 lbs or more. With endorsements-{T}-Doubles/Triples. Quoted directly from the back of my CDL. Air brake is part of a class A and automatic with endorsement {T]. Physicals can be given by a certified nurse practitioner. Most common screw up while testing---shifting while making a turn from a stop sign.
They can only be given by a person who has attended a training coarse given by state personnel. My regular doctor can't do it, he don't have time to play games, but the Osteopath in Auburn can? I was told I couldn't drive a truck with air brakes a few years ago but now I see that I don't have the restriction on my license. I hadn't heard about the restriction part of a license until now. I had used it as an excuse to not have to drive. Thanks? CDL Restriction(s) L: No Air Brake Equipped CMV - Drivers of commercial vehicles with full air brakes must pass the required tests on air brakes. Drivers who do not take and pass these tests are restricted on their CDL to operate only non-air brake equipped commercial vehicles. Z: No Full Air Brake Equipped CMV - Drivers of commercial vehicles with partial air brakes must pass the required tests on air brakes. Drivers who do not take and pass these tests are restricted on their CDL to operate only non-air brake equipped commercial vehicles. E: No Manual Transmission Equipped CMV - Drivers that complete a skills test in a vehicle with an automatic transmission are restricted to operate commercial vehicles with automatic transmissions. They are restricted from operating commercial vehicles with a manual transmission. O: No Tractor-trailer CMV - Drivers that complete a skills test in a commercial vehicle with a pintle hook trailer connection are restricted to operate commercial vehicles with pintle hook trailer. They are restricted from operating commercial vehicles with 5th wheel trailers. M: No Class A Passenger Vehicle - Drivers that complete a skills test in a class B passenger vehicle are restricted to operate Class B passenger vehicles. N: No Class A and B Passenger Vehicle - Drivers that complete a skills test in a class C passenger vehicle are restricted to operate Class C passenger vehicles. K: Intrastate Only - Drivers that self-certify as Non-excepted intrastate or is under the age of 21. Driving is restricted to intrastate commerce.
We have a Class A /K restriction trainee currently, 20 years old. The physical doctors here are a joke, a few Osteopaths and Chiropractors have the cert here, a number of people I know should NOT be driving(Vertigo or deaf as a post no aids, one cannot see well enough to read a trip order sheet without a magnifier) and get signed off by a quack chiro in Warrenton MO.
Interesting I took the test in an automatic with a pintle hook trailer and don't have ant restrictions
California used to have an advertisement in the back of their CDL handbook for a company with a little straight truck that had air brakes and a synchro 5 speed pulling a little pintle trailer, you could rent for the test. Helped pay for the printing I guess. That would not be allowed today without restrictions. But if you simply changed it to a gooseneck 5th wheel I bet it would still check all the boxes and be OK.
They are pushing for driverless truck to haul our freight. The government subsidizes and funds the R&D on such. How do you make it actually work? Make it more and more difficult to operate the system that they want to replace.
That's why I used the term certified.
The fact we are stuck on air brake endorsements-Look under Federal Mandate 396.25 and section 3 {A}. Technically most of you folks can't touch anything to do with your brakes or repair them. If you get pulled for a level 1 inspection and DOT finds brakes out of adjustment you cannot adjust them without a {Brake Inspection Certification Card in your wallet. I have been carrying a card for 30 plus years. If you contact a PacCar or any other truck dealer you can find out when Stemco is putting on a brake school. Attend, listen and ask questions you will receive a certificate and card upon completion of class.
Gonna have to go that route.
Has anyone gotten their CDL since these new rules went into effect? Or anyone with info on the new process of getting a CDL. I made the mistake of not getting it done before hand. I was assured that the new rules “were just a rumor” and now here we are. I need my class B for sure possibly just get the A if it’s not too much more hassle or money.
I feel sorry for any truck owner with a licensed weight over 26,001. who may be looking for a driver.
I renewed the last time too. I'll probably keep getting medicals until it plays out in 2027. Years ago I dropped mine down to intrastate, as nobody I work for leaves Washington.
Your screwed, if you got your permit before February you could get grandfathered in. I have a class b, apparently I can still get an a the only way.
I have a neighbor that says you don't need a physical if you are just doing intrastate. I get my physicals only because it's possible for me to do inspections on trucks in other states. Does all this sound right?
My county has their own "trainer" and is now permitted to hold their own classes and train their own drivers, they won't train any outside drivers. Of course the $$ doesn't mean much to them, just put it in the budget. I'm seeing mostly 3 week courses in what I've looked at for sending one of my employee's to this winter. $4-6,000. I think if I wanted to get a "B" on the cheap, I'd try to get hired to be a "part time" emergency bus driver at the local school district, and they would likely pay for the training.
@John C. No. I got a nastygram from DOL after I got my medical, because I had not sent it to them. You can scan and email it, upload it, or do as I did and take it in to the office. It is right down 112th from the office.
If you are intrastate only you don't need a medical card, but you need to go to the DMV and switch your license type first, but you can drive in state only with your CDL.
Not in Washington. https://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/cdlmedicalcertificates.html You don't need to carry a copy but you do need to give them one. If you can't get a medical, you may qualify for an exemption. https://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/cdlmedicalwaivers.html
I take it that you don't need a med if you don't operate a commercial vehicle. Say maybe your a farmer hauling grain off your field or operating a dump truck moving material between two sites on your property. Just a guess? I did my last physical in June. I'll be seventy when the next one comes up.
Farmers have a 150 mile radius that does not depend on traveling between farms. https://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/cdlexempt.html
My physical renewed January, good to go for awhile.
From what I can tell you still have to take the new Entry Level Driver Training to upgrade from a class B to a class A
As I suspected I made a big mistake not getting it sooner and this is going to be a PITA. I need my class B so I can move from the shop to a service truck. Might get lucky enough to find someone who needs a field mechanic bad enough that they would pay for me to get it… I just think that it’ll be a lot easier to make the move if I already have the CDL. I had a friend who was going to quit and they ended up throwing him in a kw service truck because he already had his class B. I’m an IUOE mechanic currently and I could do the CDL training through the union next year for free, but it still take like 14 days of training through them.
The field will balance out with employers paying to get cdls, rates will go up, so the customers will pay more, you will just have to wait a year or two. For those who have a CDL you should expect to get paid a lot more now, used to get 2/hr more and now I think it's worth 4/hr more. Im in Kansas and my buddy went to the DMV and got a permit in February and he asked them all kinds of questions including for my case to get an a, but what I am sure of in this work with CDL and other commercial questions you get a different answer with every person you talk to including hypos, DMV, etc lol If your worried about being 'commerical', never get a 1 ton truck, always f250. Of the hop hypos stop more duallys with trailers then trucks because anyone can drive them and they often don't know proper loading. F250's are also tagged correctly with a 10k# tag than makes them not 'commerical' while nearly every 1 ton is. You will get a ton of different answers here too but this is the easiest one.
Get a full class A and be done with it. There is an outfit around in CA that rents a 5 speed synchro little RV toter like truck with air brakes and a short 5th wheel gooseneck for testing with no restrictions. But I find myself dragging an over 10k trailer with my pickup once in a while to haul some machine and there is probably something they could get me with, but at least I have the right license. And I could go drive for Bob's sand and gravel if times got tough for some reason.
I got my b back in 06/07 and could have taken the a with a pickup and a trailer and had a full a but never took the time. I recommend if your getting your CDL to go straight for the a from the get go. Pulling a heavy trailer with a pickup only matters if the pickup is a 1 ton, because reasons lol. Always use a 3/4 ton or a pickup with 10k# or less tag listed on the inside of the door, gvwr I think. Keep this in mind when buying new pickups too, a srw f250 is more legal to pull heavy then duallys and srw 1 tons.
Do the IUOE school. You've paid for it, use it. If you get dispatched to the right employer they might pay for you to go.
If its 3 weeks at the IUOE school, can you get unemployment while you go through? I think if you can swing a layoff from your employeer with a firm return to work date, you don't even have to apply at any other jobs to get your check.
The local examiner gives the test at our yard-three ring circus some days. I'm just glad I didn't go through life as a power steering pump or a transmission. Frigging brutal.
Possibly I’m not really sure. The problem is I work for an equipment dealership so we never get laid off like the contractor guys do. That doesn’t ever really give us the opportunity to use the union training center. Which is unfortunate because it’s a very impressive facility.
Locally the License Testing department is waiving off actual test to the schools, the schools sign off as appropriate as well candidate suitable and the test is used for road test under state guidelines.
I did my CDL B at the old training site and up graded to my A at the Training Site we have now,that was a long time ago excellent experience.I feel sorry for everyone trying to obtain a CDL now.
It's like Birken stated to get a class "A" and be done with it. Get the air brake endorsement also. I was grandfathered into the program when it started as I had an IL class "DM" license since 18th b'day. Class "D" in IL used to be for heavy truck trailer combinations, (before the CDL program started) and "M" is motorcycle above 150cc. I've not needed a CDL is over 15 years since selling my operating trucks but have always kept it in place as a "just in case" scenario. I don't need a CDL for my antiques but I do deliver farm equipment for a local implement dealer and it's needed for their rig. But that is a voluntary gig for me. Doesn't cost much to keep the CDL in effect once you have it other than the medical certificate every two years from a participating doctor's office.
Except even the requirements for the Dr. keep going up and most doctors won't do it any more. Found one guy that does, quick and efficient but of course on my paperwork and mine alone, the DMV did not like some meaningless thing and made them change it.
Here the Dr is $100 and is easy for me, but I can see the older guys might have health problems. I can't stress enough that current non drivers go to the DMV and ask about intrastate so they don't need a medical card. I think it's changing your type from one to two. To the guy wanting to do service truck, ask what's the pay for service truck and compare to what you get now, being out of work for 2-3 weeks and the raise in pay over a year should justify it. Once your a CDL a you will always have a job somewhere, and that pay is only going to go up from here.
The last saw bones I went to was a DO. He told me he had to take some days off and fly to the mid west somewhere for a class. He didn't say how long the class was but I'm sure it was more than a day. That gave him a piece of paper that said he could give transport physicals. He was already certified to give flight physicals but that apparently doesn't count. He said most doctors won't shut down their business for that time and the physicals don't generate enough money for them to justify it.
Class A-Any CMV tractor/trailer combination where GCWR 26,001 lbs or more. If you have or get a doubles/triples endorsement--that automatically covers anything to do with air brakes. Your license will not say air brake endorsement with doubles/triples endorsement.
I'm grandfathered in on the Class A CDL and when I checked on air brakes the regs said something about there being a restriction for air brakes and not an endorsement. I believe new drivers do have to take a written and practical test on air brakes as part of the Class A CDL for vehicles with air brakes. Does that sound correct?
The Dr. visit where I go is $54.00 if out of pocket. Every two years to stay current. Air brake authorization used to be called an "endorsement" before the CDL program took effect in 1992 in Illinois. For a while I had a Texas DL also and at the time you could have both states. Both were heavy truck licenses and air brakes included. I never took any driver's test for Texas as had a clean Illinois DL, they just issued the license after an eye test and collect the fee.
I understood that a medical card was required for anything interstate over 10k#. PA grandfathered 17k# and under for no medical card. I've been fined on my Class M license for no Med card in my old 23k# gvw service truck, in PA.
I met an #^$!# car hauler today on the 66th ave bridge @ river road, @John C. can describe it to you. He was on the far side as you see it in this picture, and on top of the yellow lines. I slowed and eased by with my right mirror inches from the steel structure, and slapped mirrors with him and then straightened mine out. He had no business on that bridge it is limited to 28' trailers from every possible approach, and he had no need to be on the line. It's a bad right angle narrow bridge but you can use it if you know how to operate. They need something, I'm not sure more requirements is it but when you come to a stop stay between the lines!!
Idiot truck herder using MAPS for directions.
That is correct-with a doubles/triples endorsement it's automatic because there are no doubles/triples with electric brakes. In school a person will go through air brake training for CDL class A endorsed D/T.
And, yet I don't need an air brake endorsement to drive my 26k# gvw air brake equipped truck on a class M license
Well there is a hidden problem--Seattle streets and roads coupled with King County. I know that bridge. But there are so many improperly marked streets and always has been. Portland is another.
The Federal/State DOT could make it a lot simpler by {anything over 26,001 will have A class/ air brake training}. Any RV over 26,001 will have a CDL and air brake training. Automatic-no if's, and's or but's.
I've been nervous taking the Goldwing across that bridge and meeting a full length tractor trailer on it. It was really stupid of the car hauler as he didn't need to cross that bridge at all. They put streets in that go over to the north end of Fife. That bridge also shakes like and earth quake is happening when a truck crosses.
No he shouldn't have been on it-Should be {No Trucks on Bridge}. A classic for bad highway signage was the south bound I-5 exit-Dearborn-The signs are/were installed on the curve and overpass people who weren't familiar with that part of I-5 didn't know which lane to be in which was evident from all the tire marks.
Getting your air brake endorsement will require a skills test which is the driving test in the lot. It's just the air bleed off and go forward and the brakes pretty much. I helped a guy before they did all these restrictions who had his a because a one ton and big trailer then later needed air brakes to drive a straight truck. Easiest way to be able to drive a semi without ever touching one lol.
We replaced that same vintage of bridge over the Puyallup on East main. It was famous for all the mirror glass on the wooden sidewalk and against the rub rail from all the chance meetings of two wide rigs. I ran the Komatsu 400 series 6 across it 3 times
That the bridge that sat in the field for years?
the one between Sumner and Puyallup. The Meridian bridge is still sitting there.
Who wants to be a millionaire? I guess no one since a million doesn’t go far these days. https://mynorthwest.com/1535858/no-one-would-take-the-old-puyallup-river-bridge-even-for-1m/
The state has an odd idea of the value of sentimentality. That bridge should have been cut up and sent to the scrap yard when they picked it off the abutments. Now it will be scrapped anyway. The same thing happened when the Whitney bridge over the Green River was replaced. Built in 1925, removed in 1990 and scrapped around 2008.
According to the article, the 1 million offer is also contingent on removing lead- which I'm assuming is a total blasting to bare metal with recovery of all removed paint. A million wouldn't be any too much. Now- if one could get the million, then fritter it away on ceo pay and "studies" on removal for 5-6 years, and then a "bankrupcy" of the LLC formed to do the work- and maybe a article in the paper how "its just too bad that we couldn't complete the project without a injection of federal or state liquidity to ensure proper mitigation of environmental issues" perhaps then I could make a money making proposal.
You could sit there with a nonstop ticket book and write citations all day long. Hauling into Simpson (when they were still in Tacoma,) getting caught there by the light, I regularly saw trucks trying the bridge. I got caught once for three signal cycles as a truck and trailer (53') started in then decided to back out. Of course no cops in sight. They need to put a doughnut shop on the corner so they can sit in comfort waiting for their next ticket to try the bridge.
Before they put in the weight restriction on the overpass across the railroad tracks, I used to take the excavator over there to pape that way. My tilt trailer is about 28 ft, the bridge really wasn't the interesting part it was how narrow the levee road is down there to the west. 2 102" trailers fill it up pretty good!
All part of living in the fast lane, too many people, too many cars and trucks and very little investment in infrastructure. Especially trucks, need more major rail.
Does light rail count? Because we are spending billions to construct a light rail system over here that is designed to transport tech workers from the suburbs to Seattle where they work in the office towers. No matter that in a post-COVID world most of those workers now permanently work from home, and the tech companies are relocating to the suburbs where the taxes are lower and the streets and sidewalks aren’t an open sewer. At least we will have the most expensive rolling homeless shelter in the world.
Actually 75% of the semi's you see on the highway are nothing but a $200,000 homeless shelter. I know all about Seattle's woe's my brother lives on Poverty Rock. The problem is 50% of the OTR traveling the highways are LTL, because of just in time delivery. A waste of fuel and tires and road bed. When you see a truck flying along at 65 mph it isn't that it has a big power plant--there's nothing in it.
Light Rail is full from 6 AM to about 10 AM. It hits capacity again around 2 PM and is at capacity until 7 PM. About a third of the time, you stand all the way as the seats are full.
Taking that bridge down with all the regulations for a million is far from making anyone a millionaire.
Not sure how to reconcile that you are seeing light rail at capacity and what I read that says ridership is 40% below pre-pandemic levels: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/pu...ked-up-an-additional-50-billion-for-rail-plan Perhaps the trains are running less frequently or a lot more people used to stand?
you read it, Jumbo apparently rides it at some time. I used to commute by the sounder to Seattle from Puyallup. Because I got on that far down the line and got on the first train, I could bring my bike. I don't think there was room in the bike area after Sumner. It opened up again at Kent where a bunch of folks transferred to bus to go to the east side. There was no light rail option at the time. There still is not to the Bellevue/Redmond area. I also did that run, train to Kent and bus to Bellevue to work on Overlake Hospital. You got off and fast walked/ran to the waiting bus and got a seat. Walk slow and standing room only.
Sound Transit's projections are the Yin to the Washington Policy Center's Yang on the argument. The truth is somewhere to one side or the other of the middle. Currently the work from home phenomena has taken a lot of high tech workers off the road and out of the usage of the trains. The other side is that the freeways are plugged as much or more now as they were before the pandemic. I have recently traveled south and north on I5 at rush hour and witnessed the mess. I know some people who have been affected by the high cost of fuel and the limitations of parking in the cities who jumped on the trains if they had that option. The fallacy of heavy and light rail is that it assumes everyone works on a schedule that fits the transit schedule. I've never worked for anyone that didn't have things like shift changes, overtime or even just crazy weather that would preclude catching a train or buss. The other issue is the last mile or two of travel. I don't mind a good walk when I want to take one. I'm not inclined to walk two or three miles in the morning and evening from a work site or have to run to catch a transport and again to catch a different type of transport in the morning or evening. I suspect the deciding consideration in the future, for people who have to travel to get to work will be the cost of a car, parking and fuel against the cost of mass transit and property taxes. I currently don't plan on staying around here to find out how it works out.
I was able to reconcile the transit schedule and work construction, which is typically the earliest start time in the workforce. My employer would work with me for minor start time adjustments. They wanted to do their part to keep my car at home. That Bellevue scramble was a 50 yard walk from train to bus, then 4 blocks at the Bellevue end and repeat on the way home. The Expedia job was a two block walk to catch a bus, to across the street from the job. There was nothing long.
How about the building projects in Seattle? I've done plenty of inspections there where the train station is on the south end and the building project was up at Pier 91, or West Seattle, Ballard or Sand point. How many busses run from the train station in Tukwila to the Hyatt Regency project in North Renton? How would I get to points north of Seattle. Say Shoreline, Edmunds, Mountlake Terrace, Kenmore and so on. Train direction only runs with rush hour traffic. What if I have a family emergency and have to return home just after I get to work? I suppose the only recourse would be a taxi or Uber or something. But then we are back to using a car. The truth of mass transit here is that it is only designed to bring people into and out of the metro areas if they live somewhere along the I5 corridor. Those that live along the foot hills have to drive to a park and ride and catch a train or buss so the elimination of cars is impossible. People who live in Enumclaw, Buckley, Hobart, Monroe, Carnation, Duval, Monroe, Snohomish and Lake Stevens are out of luck, plus there is no buss system between those points. All that and now they can't get enough people to drive all the busses. King and Pierce County metros will pay you to get trained for the license.
the busses go everywhere from that train station, and the light rail is a block away. I could always get where I was going and the bus runs all day for getting home mid-day in an emergency. When something happened on the train line I could take a bus. I worked a water job next to pier 51 for American, on Fire station #5. I drove to the Lakewood train station ( see that, both the sounder and a bus at the same parking garage ) Got on the 594 for Seattle. It went a few blocks to the 512 park and ride, then got on I-5 and the driver turned off the interior lights. It was am MCI so more like a grayhound with reclining seats. The entire bus goes to sleep, and it does not get off I-5 till the Seneca street exit. It uses the HOVs and moves faster than I ever could with a solo car. The lights come back on and the entire busload groans after a ~45 minute nap. I get off at the second stop on Seneca and it's 4 blocks down to the waterfront. I did it both ways. Parking was $16. The employer paid either way. This country boy grew up in Selah and did not even ride the school bus, I'd rather walk the mile to town.
So lay out the routes for getting home from Seattle to Enumclaw at 11:00 AM. How many changes do you have to make and what time will you arrive in Enumclaw? I wouldn't have any problem paying taxes for a buss system that is flexible with growing populations and changing location patterns of employers. I don't even mind the heavy rail options on established track. This light rail program though is a license to steal that may be made obsolete before it is even completed. It is by far the most expensive transportation project per mile. Here is another article from the Washington Policy Institute. https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/pu...-transits-light-rail-is-becoming-more-obvious
Enumclaw is not served by busses worth a crap. You drive to Sumner and then you have it all.
Exactly. And given that, despite what politicians may think, the ability of the taxpayers to provide tax revenue is not infinite, it has the effect of sucking the oxygen out of the room for everything else. Case in point is Hwy 167. For those not local, all but the southern six miles was built in the early 60’s as a two lane each direction freeway, it is a major commuter road and a main arterial to get freight off the docks in Tacoma to the distribution warehouses of the Kent valley. It has severe congestion and has had years of construction to add a third carpool lane for most of it’s length. The state has now begun construction of the last six miles and linkup to I-5 and the Port of Tacoma. What are we going to get on those six miles in 2028 after waiting 64 years? (Drum roll please…) Two lanes each way and a toll. The road will be at capacity the day after they cut the ribbon. Maybe if we weren’t pouring so much into light rail, the resources would be there to build out projects like this with capacity for future growth.
They were talking about the bridge here and I thought it was an interesting story that folks might want to read about. I made reference to the television show “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” only as an attempt to be humorous. My apologies if anyone construed this as a serious suggestion of how to make a million dollars.
Just yanking your chain.
The problem with Seattle is all the water ways, rivers, lakes and the sound. Only so many places to build new roads without condemning land. And with the land values the way they are that would get rather costly.
No worries. I’ve been told my sense of humor is an acquired taste. I don’t think it was meant as a compliment.