520 bridge tolls

[MarkFromSea]

Going over the top! I've got to start a daily commute starting tomorrow from Juanita to SCCA off of Eastlake. Guess I'll find out what the 522 commute is like and adjust as required. I hate to see the tolls rage back in to the area after so many decades since their removal back in the 70's. I'll avoid them as long as I can and when feasible.

[edge540]

Yep that's the only way it's going to work is tolling all the big bridges. The most important piece would be making the good to go passes work everywhere there is a toll. The Narrows, Hood Canal, the tolled carpools and I 90 for a start, then start on the larger bridges on the east side too. Make the toll small enough for a little grumble but not enough to figure out a new route.

Amen to that, and while there at it how about a local based company running the good to go thing instead of sending state business to the east coast.

[sickbayer]

Yep that's the only way it's going to work is tolling all the big bridges. The most important piece would be making the good to go passes work everywhere there is a toll. The Narrows, Hood Canal, the tolled carpools and I 90 for a start, then start on the larger bridges on the east side too. Make the toll small enough for a little grumble but not enough to figure out a new route.

Amen to that, and while there at it how about a local based company running the good to go thing instead of sending state business to the east coast.

excatly..keep it in this state....

ALSO
People complaining just bothers the c**p out of me as it boils down to no one wanting to pay for it, well guess what we allll have to pay, so what if you paid in the seventies that was what...wait for it ..................50 years ago........ you'd think if theyre drving a new car by now that the bridge would need replacing too?!

[edge540]

I drove all over Illinois on a business trip and just about every freakin road you drive on is .25 .50 .60 or a buck. I know that the 520 toll is pretty steep but im glad we don't have to pull on the 5, 167,405, 18, 169 .... sure glad I don't commute 520 or id be short on fishing funds

[MarkFromSea]

I'd gladly pay the toll if I didn't have to go to SCCA, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Robyn's got cervical cancer, stage 3B. (correction added later: stage figo stage 3B) Radiation 5 days a week and chemo once a week for about the next 2 months.

As far as paying my way or whining, we already pay the highest gas tax in the nation. Here, take my left nut for your toll!

Just to stay on topic, I'll avoid the tolls as long as it's feasible.

[racfish]

Complain complain. I bought a good to go pass for my car and truck. BIG DEAL. Y'all make such a big deal about the tolls. Its not going away so you might as well deal with it. I dont like it either but Im not gonna cry about it. With my good to go pass I can drive in HOV lanes on certain roads. I dont have to stop at tolling booths. The state is gonna get ya one way or the other. LOL. Dont forget we live in western Wa . Home of the liberals. They love taxing everything to help pay the non workers and lazy folk.

[G-Man]

I don't like the thought of tolls and I'll avoid them whenever possible. When I was in the service, I traveled cross country by car on several occasions and had the displeasure of using a turnpike in Kansas. The road was in total disrepair, worse than anything I've seen in downtown Seattle, and I gave the collector some serious grief for having to actually to drive on something that crappy and I never drove through Kansas again. What it boils down to is fiscal responsibility and proper planning, something that has been lacking in most all local, state and federal agencies. We need to force these agencies to become more efficient and learn to budget properly. Boycott the toll roads/bridges/HOV lanes and make these jokers work for a living.

[kenimes]

I don't like the thought of tolls and I'll avoid them whenever possible. When I was in the service, I traveled cross country by car on several occasions and had the displeasure of using a turnpike in Kansas. The road was in total disrepair, worse than anything I've seen in downtown Seattle, and I gave the collector some serious grief for having to actually to drive on something that crappy and I never drove through Kansas again. What it boils down to is fiscal responsibility and proper planning, something that has been lacking in most all local, state and federal agencies. We need to force these agencies to become more efficient and learn to budget properly. Boycott the toll roads/bridges/HOV lanes and make these jokers work for a living.

Well put.

It would not bother me quite so much if the local, state, and federal governments were not so blatant with their reckless spending habits. They should indeed be held more accountable for their efficiency and budgeting skills, or lack thereof. If hard working Americans need to be more frugal in today's economy to barely get by, why shouldn't government agencies do the same, without nickle and dimming the rest of us?

[racfish]

Talking about cheap tolls. Who remembers the Vernita Toll bridge between Shewanna Dam and Vernita. It was like a quarter back then. Tolling bridges isnt really a bad idea. Fortunately for me I live In Seward Park and work on 12th and Yesler. Its a 10 minute commute for me. 5 minutes when ADT calls. Hehehe.
The reason they stopped tolling 520 was the tollers in the boothes stole in tunes of 150,000.00 dollars over time. After that the toll booths disappeared. Our poor state Govt. I feel sorry for them. It goes to show that you needent be intelligent to work for the state.

[Bodofish]

Yeah, 520 was like .30 and if you had a car pool .10. A toll both on Vernita was really a WTF out in the middle of nowhere. With the automated tolling it could make it quite painless.. As far as the State doing a better job with the funds it has, that's a given but, you're still are never going to please even a minority. That's why we make our best guess and vote for our officials to make those decisions for us. Tax on fuel aside, we still have pretty darn nice roads compared to many states. In fact I like our roads and I like the things our gas tax pays for. I guess we will still have all these problems as long as people fail to recognize we are all members of society and in this together. Stop the me me me me me and start the us us us us us. It's called history, every time the me me's get started something bad happens and we run smack into that anarchy thing. Don't even start with communism, the boys at the top were the worst me me me's of all...... well maybe not “of all” but none the less pretty darn bad.

I say toll them all, everyone and make it a little toll that just gets shrugged off.

[romanfishing]

Personally, I don't use the bridge often so can avoid the issue. I think it is ridiculous.

[G-Man]

I say toll them all, everyone and make it a little toll that just gets shrugged off.

That is essentially what our State's extra high gas tax is.

[Bodofish]

I say toll them all, everyone and make it a little toll that just gets shrugged off.

That is essentially what our State's extra high gas tax is.

Gas tax = General fund........

[BentRod]

Gas tax = General fund........

Which apparently isn't high enough as there isn't enough money in the general fund to cover State Parks as well as the lawmakers' pet pockets...er, I mean projects. Therefore we should toll all the bridges and increase the gas tax!

Even though I don't travel 520 I'm technically paying more to the state anyhow as my daily I-90 commute time has increased by 20-30 minutes per day due to increased traffic (520 avoiders)....during which I burn more gas.

[G-Man]

I say toll them all, everyone and make it a little toll that just gets shrugged off.

That is essentially what our State's extra high gas tax is.

Gas tax = General fund........

Not where it was supposed to go. But since our leaders can't keep two nickles in their pockets, they moved it to the general fund to make up for their lack of control. Kind of like our leaders in DC who decided it was ok to raid Social Security. Stop robbing Peter to pay Paul!

[Bodofish]

Sorry dude, the plan to toll both bridges was shot down by all the me me me'ers. Not my Idea of the right thing to do and we apparently can't learn from our mistakes or others either. California went through this problem years ago, so now all the bay bridges are tolled. Chicago did the same thing, it's not their bridges but the freeways. They both found the only way to stop the sneak arounders is to toll all paths.

Or maybe tax accordingly so you don't need tolls.......

G-man..... You hit the nail on the head!

[MarkFromSea]

Almost $7 round trip. So who is paying and who is driving around? Full year estimated at $1,700 for a daily commute. Ouch!

I've just driven around the north end of the lake the last couple days, hasn't been bad. Leaving 125th and Juanita Drive about 7:30-8:30am, arriving just south of Eastlake and Mercer 40-50 minutes later. Leaving SCCA about 2pm, arriving back to Juanita and 125th 35-45 minutes later. The north end commute works just fine for us SINCE we live so close to 522 already. In about a week and a half, Robyn starts the chemo and radiation, we'll look at the option of using the good to go pass on 520 on our return commute since once a week the chemo treatment is scheduled to finish at about 5:30pm. Keeping our options open, adjusting as feasibility dictates.

Saw the MRI yesterday. That's an ugly monster in Robyn's gut. Consumed the cervix, 3/4 the ute, the left fallopian tube, up around the tube that goes from left kidney to bladder, encroaching(restricting blood flow) on vein and artery that heads to her left leg. Today, pet scan, after that radioactive green stuff was injected. Couple hours later, we got a call that her chemo is getting extended from 6-7 weeks to 10-12(?????) or as required. It jumped from her not loosing her hair to definitely loosing it. Her hair is near half her height so that's a big thing. Vanity is a *****. It also jumped from just shootin the chemo in her arm to implanting a "port" on/in her chest for the chemo.

Cancer sucks, it's gonna cut into my ice fishing time.

[Mike Carey]

So sorry to hear this. JoAnn and I send our prayers for Robyn.

[MarkFromSea]

Thanks Mike,
Other than the gruesome details, we're going to keep an upbeat approach to what is ahead of us. SCCA is co-located to a Fred Hutch bldg, closely associated from the limited internet search of SCCA. SCCA seems to have it wired together pretty well, scheduled 4 appts on same day(yesterday), one right after the other in different parts of the building, nearly seamless from one appoint to the next. Felt like a weeks worth of diagnosis and info in one day. Today, the rapid adjustment to scheduled treatment, possibly based on the pet scan, seems incredibly streamlined. I do wish treatment would start this Monday instead of a little over a week away. I'm impressed with the coordination thus far.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to get her fishing in this next week before treatment starts. Our best times have been fishin, whether it was salmon and butts out of Westport, surf trolling FL(walking along a pier w/your bait in the water), bull reds in LA, trout outa Mar Don or Williams, bass out of WI, mahi off of Kauai or Cabo, sockeye out of Baker, pinks in the Sound, or those surplus steelhead in Kress. I still haven't gotten her to like fishing for panfish though. She doesn't get off on yankin 100 perch or sunfish out of a lake like I do!(only 1 time that I recall that she did, north of Roses) LOL

[Bodofish]

Mark,
My thoughts and prayers as they be go out to you and your wife in these testing and heart wrenching times. To have a loved one going through anything like this is test or will and faith and I do feel for both of you.

So get out there and catch some fish!!! if that's what makes both of you feel good. I would recommend if you have the time, take it and head over to Rufus Woods and catch some big trout. I'll make some trout slayer jigs so you're armed with the best, just give me a shout and they're all yours.

Rock on Brother,

Bodo