John Tangeman's commute from Lake Forest Park to Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood used to take 25 minutes. At most, 40 minutes.
Then, earlier this month, two lanes of northbound Interstate 5 were barricaded off as the Ship Canal Bridge is repaved. Tangeman, 59, predicted it would be a complex — but tolerable — challenge.
At first, I was like, 'it's not gonna be that bad,'" he said last week. "But then, on my first day, it was looking at two hours."
The Seattle area was already notorious for its headache-inducing traffic. Commuters are now forced to struggle with the lane closures, which are set to last two years.
Local workers are changing their habits in response. Some are turning to other forms of transit, such as bicycles and the Link light rail, or flexing their work schedules. Many are simply steeling themselves to sit in gridlock traffic.
For Tangeman, a front of house manager at a theater, his hours vary greatly. Sometimes, he'll be spared.
Other times, he's resigned himself to the slog along I-5. He once had the option to take the bus, but the route changed, so driving is his only feasible choice.
"We're just going to have to live with it, right?" Tangeman said. "For the betterment of society, we need to do this. And so, we're going to have to bite the bullet."
Light rail, biking as alternatives
Several commuters are embracing other modes of transportation to ease their routines.
Arash Akbar, 43, is looking forward to the opening of the light rail between Seattle and Bellevue, scheduled for March 28.
"When that happens, I'll be able to just take the train straight from Northgate to pretty much my office in downtown Bellevue," he said. "That should help me get through the rest of the I-5 lane restrictions."
At present, Akbar, a productivity tools manager, occasionally bikes to his workplace from his home in northeast Seattle. But usually, he opts to take his car.
In the past, he spent about 20 minutes on the road before arriving at his office by 7 a.m. When Akbar left around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., the drive spanned between 30 and 45 minutes.
Because he travels outside of the worst morning and afternoon rush hours, the lane closures increased his commute time only slightly.
Still, "it's certainly not convenient," he said. "On the flip side, I understand that infrastructure needs to be repaired, and it can only be functional if it's maintained."
Dillon Kelly, 34, is pointing to a silver lining: "I think it's an opportunity" to improve alternative forms of transit and popularize them, he said.
Several days of the week, Kelly commutes six miles from north Seattle to his office in the city for his accounting job. He either rides the bus or cycles along the Westlake Cycle Track.
"A lot of my commute is on these great protected bike trails," he said, though "a lot is in kind of more dangerous territory — or not quite as comfortable for cycling. I think that is a big deterrent for a lot of people considering it."
Kelly hopes the renewed local focus on transportation improves conditions for the city's alternatives to cars, making them faster and more frequent.
As the father of a 1-year-old child, he empathizes with parents who may need vehicles to shuttle their kids and are now burdened by the I-5 brouhaha. But for those who can take advantage of alternative transit, Kelly believes it can result in "nice lifestyle changes."
For his part, he values the time spent riding his bike and reading on the bus.
"Even when this work is finished, encouraging more modes of commuting and transportation, especially during peak hours like this — it's going to make life better for everyone," Kelly said.
Visit Seattle, the city's marketing association, echoes that stance.
"Obviously, the lane closures have a big impact on commuters," chief engagement officer Michael Woody said, "making this a great opportunity to promote Seattle’s many alternative transportation methods — some of which visitors come to Seattle to experience, like the Monorail, ferry, and water taxi."
'Completely bumper to bumper'
For some locals, the logjam on I-5 isn't the worst part. Instead, it's the overflow into their neighborhoods.
It usually only takes a few minutes for Caroline Prokos, 27, to traverse Roosevelt Way in northeast Seattle before reaching the interstate. That time has more than quintupled for her since the lane closures.
"Now, every single side street, main street, alleyway is completely bumper to bumper to get on the highway," Prokos said.
She's not opposed to other forms of transportation, but, as a real estate agent, she relies on her car to reach specific houses and neighborhoods.
The intensifying traffic "makes it very hard for me to schedule tours and client consults," Prokos said. "I totally would take transit, but, sometimes, it's just not super efficient or convenient to do so."
Today, she leaves her home 30 minutes earlier to accommodate the disruption. She hopes the express lanes might open up to vehicles traveling southbound on weekday mornings to alleviate the clog.
One politician is pushing for that exact solution.
King County Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn recently called on Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Julie Meredith to reopen the express lanes for southbound drivers, even if they're limited to early hours.
"These impacts to southbound I-5 traffic have created debilitating conditions for commuters as they attempt to get to their jobs, doctor appointments, the airport," Dunn wrote in a letter sent Friday. "This is simply an untenable and unacceptable new norm for commuters."
So far, Meredith's agency hasn't budged.
Southeast of Seattle, Rob Nichols, 64, has watched stoppages worsen on Interstate 405 as drivers choose the route over I-5.
As a Renton resident, the congestion "has made a pretty big impact here locally," he said.
For 15 years, Nichols drove to and from downtown Seattle for his job in management consulting. The traffic used to be "busy, certainly, but manageable," he said.
Though he retired in July, Nichols still enjoys visiting the city, but he said the bottlenecks feel random now. "We fear being stuck, being late."
Even in his community, he can't escape the effects of the I-5 lane closures. On the first day they went into effect, his early morning drive to the gym with his wife jumped from 15 minutes to around 40 minutes.
"We thought, 'Uh oh,'" Nichols said. "I think people will adjust, but it's still a significant impact.
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