The Montlake Mess

Examine a map of Seattle. It’s bounded on the east and west by water, and bisected by another body of water. As a result, bridges are choke points between A and B. One of the most congested bridges is next to the University of Washington campus, the Montlake Bridge. This bridge is a drawbridge, which snarls traffic at regular intervals during the summer. Immediately south of this bridge are exits from route 520, which includes a floating toll bridge over Lake Washington. As a result, I refer to this neighborhood as the Montlake Mess.

Several years ago I was transporting research samples between my hospital and the University of Washington (UW) Medical Center. To avoid parking charges, the lab manager at UW would meet me at the entrance driveway and I’d pass the samples out my window into his waiting hands. I’d call him about the time I approached the Montlake Mess so he could meet me. This worked reasonably well unless the bridge went up as I was driving down the hill.

This evening traffic at the Montlake Mess was at a standstill. Just south of the bridge there was a congregation of police cars. By the time I managed to get through (after a half hour of spewing nitrogen oxide gases  from my Jetta “clean diesel”), things were more or less cleaned up. I don’t know what happened, but it took me at least half an hour to go three blocks. As a result, I could have ridden my bike home in about the time it took for me to drive home tonight. Such are the hazards of living hereabouts.