Skip to main content

Confused About Traffic?


 

You are not alone. It’s a complicated issue, and not everyone is trying to make things clearer.

A few things you should know:

The City Council says that your traffic is fine now and will be fine in 20 years. “no significant unavoidable adverse impacts are expected”

Yet, during the Environmental Impact Statement process, nearly 400 people took the time to submit written concerns about traffic. No one was in favor of more traffic.

The city only pays attention to the busiest hour between 7 and 9 AM and the busiest hour between 4 and 6 PM. If you are in clogged traffic outside of those hours, it doesn’t count.

The City Council only pays attention to intersection delay. If you are sitting in a long line of traffic creeping along Sahalee, East Lake Sammamish, or Issaquah Pine Lake Road, it doesn’t count.

Intersection delay is calculated, not measured. The estimated delays depend on values of parameters used for the software. Some of them are user choice. Despite concerns raised in early June, we still don’t know what values were used. All will be revealed November 20. Or maybe not.

It may not matter to the City Council. There is a large margin between the calculated delays and what the City Council has decided are acceptable. At major intersections, your delays could get 3 times longer and still meet the City Council standard.

Maybe we should line up some good audiobooks for the wait. Perhaps something on gaslighting.

Comments

  1. JudyOctober 15, 2025 at 7:46 AM

    Commenting here because you turned off comments on the affordable housing post. First of all, that's not a good look. Second, you forgot to mention the target of 2044 for affordable housing at all levels. Meanwhile, trying to block the 4000-unit housing project in town center is clearly not out of any compassion you all have for the poorest residents in our county. We need more housing at all levels of affordability to get out of the crisis we're in.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Join the discussion, but anonymous trolling is not allowed. Feel free to disagree, but be polite. Name-calling, sarcasm, condescension, and aggression will result in your comment being removed.

Popular posts from this blog

📣 The Votes Are In on the Sammamish Town Center Plan — What’s Next?

  The Votes Are In on the Sammamish Town Center Plan City Council Passes Action Alternative (4,000 units, 85’ buildings) Before the final vote was accepted, Councilmember Kent Treen presented three alternative motions: 1. A hybrid option that would keep the 2,000-unit cap. Councilmember Lam seconded the motion. After discussion, the Council voted 6–1 against approving it. 2. Two additional alternatives were also introduced by Councilmember Treen but did not receive a second and therefore did not move forward. At the July 15, 2025 Sammamish City Council meeting, the Council voted on the future of the Town Center. They were asked to select one of three proposed alternatives: Proposed Options: 1. No Action Alternative Keeps the current cap of 2,000 housing units. Likely results in mostly townhomes and fewer community amenities such as retail, restaurants, and civic spaces. 2. Action Alternative Allows up to 4,000 units with a mix of apartments and condos, plus retail, restaurant, and...
5 comments
Read more

A Former Sammamish Mayor's Thoughts

Read what the former Mayor of Sammamish, Tom Odell, wrote about the changes the current City Council is considering and how far they've come since the early plans in 2007 and 2010. Rolled up Newspaper by 2happy.  Do you realize how different the current considerations are from the original concepts? Republished here with permission. Opinion: let the residents vote on doubling the Town Center size By Tom Odell Former Mayor and City Council Member The 2025 Sammamish City Council is considering proposed changes to the Sammamish Town Center project that was originally approved by the 2010 City Council.   I doubt if very many people got the notice regarding the changes as there is only a requirement that it be distributed to the affected and immediate “neighborhood”.  The current definition of the required notice area is very geographically limited.  Others living outside must request to be notified (I did).  It is likely that very few Sammamish residents have d...
2 comments
Read more

Town Center Expansion: A Fiscal Sustainability Crisis for Sammamish

The Red Ink Flows... Our beautiful City of Sammamish faces a serious financial challenge affecting every resident: *   2025 Budget Gap: $10,319,000 deficit ($57,287,000 in revenues vs. $67,606,000 in expenses) *   2030 Projected Overspending: $20,747,000 *   2030 Projected Funding Balance Deficit: $24,099,000 This persistent red ink has already led to new taxes for residents: *   A 6% utility tax has been implemented. *   A potential Metropolitan Park District tax is being considered to fund park expenses. Will Town Center Costs Exceed Revenues? The current Town Center plan (2008 Plan as Amended in 2020) allows for 2,000 housing units. The plan includes some information about the costs City taxpayers will bear: Infrastructure Cost-Sharing With Developers *The Town Center plan states infrastructure will be "funded jointly" between the City, service providers, and private developers, but the exact cost distribution remains unclear: *"Infra...
Post a Comment
Read more