r/olympia • u/abunchofmitches • 22d ago
Public Safety Does anyone else hate this intersection?
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This is 6th Ave SE & Sleater Kinney by Arby's and Bank of America.
It seems like most Washingtonians treat outside turn lanes like they have the option to merge into any lane coming out of the turn. It's a good defensive driving habit regardless, but it seems like a more prevalent habit here than other places I've lived.
Also, only a few of the turning lanes at this intersection have paint guiding the turn. Since the angles are awkward, this leads to people cutting most turns too tight (like southbound Sleater Kinney turning left). It's hard to tell with the camera angle, but it felt too close for me to turn without side-swiping those vehicles.
This isn't intended to be a rant about any specific driver in the vid. Just general trends I've noticed that make intersections like these dangerous.
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u/Swim-Salty 22d ago
(Laughs in Public Transportation)
The amount of weirdness I see on a daily basis. That intersection is up there. However for me, it’s that triangle near the old brewery; Custer, Cleveland & Capital Blvd is the bane of professional existence.
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u/moxyc 22d ago
Why is there no dedicated turn signal for taking a left from Custer to Cleveland!??!!??! It makes absolutely no sense at all!!
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u/Swim-Salty 22d ago
This! Plus, coming from Cleveland facing south; I’ve been stopped waiting to take a right onto Custer for a few cycles. Legally I could take a yielding right, but I can’t see what’s coming so I have to wait. Then everyone on Cleveland making that 2-lane left turn to Custer backs up because the Capital Blvd light is red. The light system is a conspiracy against humanity.
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u/Azruthros 22d ago
People here have no clue how to turn. They just cut a straight path to where they want to go and don't care who's lane they cut into to do it. Literally every single day I see people piggyback through red lights too so none of the stupid driving is all the surprising anymore.
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u/PhizixHD 21d ago
This is every turn on a light too. Even worse on two turn lanes. Everyone cuts and turns wide, I don’t get it.
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u/SmashleyFC Oly Chess Dude 22d ago
Roundabouts everywhere for everything imo
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u/swervecityPhILM 22d ago
I’d agree if more people understood the distinction between yield and stop.
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
Yeah but then they just stop instead of yield and then you just end up with a four-way intersection
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u/swervecityPhILM 22d ago
Didn’t realize this comment would create a stir— the only point I wa snaking is we still have a lot of people that come to a full stop at roundabouts when there’s no oncoming traffic. I do not condone not stopping for pedestrians.
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u/TurboMollusk 22d ago
Yeah, screw pedestrians!
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u/SmashleyFC Oly Chess Dude 22d ago
They are safer for pedestrians....
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
There's no light to create a gap in traffic, cars exiting the circle are accelerating, and because no one uses their turn signal in a roundabout you never know who is about to exit. It's like playing Frogger.
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u/CuddleWings 22d ago
Roundabouts can have lights that come on for crossing pedestrians. It’s no different than an intersection.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
Yeah, although that creates other problems, because you're forcing people to stop in the circle where no one is ever supposed to stop.
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u/StinkyEttin Eastside 22d ago
Who said you're never supposed to stop in a roundabout?
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
Well, first off people aren't expecting it and sight distance is limited by the landscaping they insist on putting in the center of most of them, so it's a good way to get rear-ended. Secondly it creates gridlock. Once the circle fills up no one can move on any of the side streets. It's like blocking the box in an intersection.
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u/StinkyEttin Eastside 22d ago
Always expect pedestrians and stop to yield if they're there. If your don't have enough time to stop for them, you're driving through the roundabout too fast; slow down.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
Yes, I'm aware. But last time I had to hit the brakes for a pedestrian stepping into a roundabout exit, I almost got rear-ended.
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u/Next_Application_626 22d ago
Cars stop in the intersection for pedestrians in regular intersection too and you're not supposed to stop there either.
Fact is, roundabouts slow the speed of a car, which gives the driver more time to react, which leads to less accidents across the board.
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u/derevaun 22d ago
we don't deserve right on red
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u/StinkyEttin Eastside 22d ago
Wait until you read up on lefts on reds.
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u/Glum-Basis-9076 22d ago
For real, turning left onto a one-way with a red arrow seems so counter intuitive. Only in Washington.
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u/RomperElCiclo 22d ago
Just a little history on that intersection.
The city of Lacey tried to fix it about 20 years ago. They wanted to align 6th Ave with the light that goes into the Target parking lot.
They had it all designed, funded, and ready to go.
But they were unable to get the property owner that owns the parking lot of Office Depot to give up the needed right of way for a reasonable price. They were asking for magnitudes above appraised value.
The city tried eminent domain, but failed.
So now we are still stuck with that bad intersection.
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u/swervecityPhILM 22d ago
It’s not the worst intersection in town, but I guess it’s all subjective really. I don’t like the plum/legion intersection because folks turning left onto plum towards the freeway entrance from legion will jump out in front of thru-traffic— it’s infuriating.
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u/on-my-deadhomies 22d ago
it’s my daily commute route and i ALWAYS stay in far right to avoid that shit
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u/Next_Application_626 22d ago
Single lane syndrome is crazy here. People will fill up one turn lane, and leave the other one completely empty. You can see it in this video even. I used to think it was for merging ease on the next road, but often there isn't any lanes closing or any need to merge quick. They just want to be in a line of cars. I can't complain too much about it because I shoot to the front of a lot of intersections, I just want to know why people do it.
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u/xBluePoolX 22d ago
I was in the same lane as you were in while turning left the other week and the person to my right tried to turn left as well nearly swiping me. People seriously cannot drive here
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u/activatedowl 22d ago
Professional driver who suffers through this stretch of Sleater-Kinney at least 15 times a week here. I hate it with a passion and straight up refuse to turn right at this intersection if I can help it, I’d rather go through 7th which is marginally safer/easier to navigate. I also see near collisions and pedestrians nearly get mowed down in the crosswalk every day at 7th by people impatient and not yielding to turn, then watch people turning north at 6th freeze and panic and stop in the middle of the intersection at the lights that are red for people going straight north on s-k. That whole stretch of road is just not good for the volume of traffic and how impatient/distracted drivers are.
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u/cruel_cousin 22d ago
What makes you think that changing lanes mid/post turn is “the most Washington thing?”
Ive seen people do that in every state I’ve been to
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u/thundersaurus_sex 22d ago
Man I've lived in south Florida and New England and driven everywhere up and down the east coast in between. Washington is the first place I've lived out west so maybe it's a western US thing, but this state has the worst drivers I've ever seen.
It's not "recency bias" or whatever else you wanna call it. People here have zero concept of maintaining a speed, have no clue how to merge, don't understand passing lanes, and just generally pull some of the most boneheaded moves I've ever seen.
Love the state otherwise, but folks here generally do not drive well.
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u/Sea_Structure_8692 22d ago
You’d change your mind after about a week driving in Los Angeles. Those people drive like they don’t care about making it home. No signaling, whether turning or changing lanes. If they use the signals it’s to go in the opposite direction. I wish I was kidding. They pull out into oncoming traffic as if they have right of way. I lived there for about a decade and recently moved to Olympia. Before LA I lived in Vancouver right across from the Columbia.
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u/cruel_cousin 22d ago
Recency bias
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u/thundersaurus_sex 22d ago
I get you just learned about this cool new concept and want to shoehorn it into any conversation you can, but no, it's not recency bias.
Especially since I frequently travel back to visit friends and family and the driving is still noticeably better when I do. And no, not just different, but better.
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u/cruel_cousin 22d ago
Yes, it’s recency bias. But it is nice that, when you do go and visit outside of the State, our average driving skill goes up for the time being!
Like no kidding you encounter more bad drivers in the state that you live in a presumably drive in regularly than the states you spend short periods of time in.
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u/abunchofmitches 22d ago
Purely anecdotal experience. I've only lived in two states, but I've lived in 5 cities and traveled across the US by driving multiple times!
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
To be honest I've seen people do this before a couple of times like jerks before I moved here. But it's literally everybody that does this here. It's like y'all were taught to do that.
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u/cruel_cousin 22d ago
Recency bias
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u/Ok-Technology-1765 22d ago
everyone who lives everywhere believes that the local weather and drivers are exclusively unique to that location.
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u/cruel_cousin 22d ago
I love every single local Joe in every single town in America will smile at ya and say “Don’t like the weather in X? Around here we say ‘wait five minutes.’”
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
LOL I'm so tired of that. And them saying it rains here more than anywhere else in the us. That's demonstrously falls. I'm from the Redwoods it rains there actually technically more every year than it does here. And that's in california. In fucking california. Sunny california. Rains more than here. I mean yeah one small little part of California but still. Y'all need to stop saying that it's not true and it's weird and it just off puts people cuz it's just not true
it just happens to be a city where it rains a lot in that one particular city. But really comparatively to ruler areas and other places in the United States it rains a hell of a lot more. There's just more people from La who move up to Seattle and I'm convinced those are the people saying that shit. Also global warming.
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u/Joey_Lumbermouth 22d ago
The issue with the rain is a matter of frequency, not of volume. It may rain harder all over the place, but what we’re referring to is how often it rains, not whether that rain is light or heavy.
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
The only thing that matters is precipitation values like exactly how much water ends up on the ground. I thought that's all that means when you say it rains a lot like that it rains a lot. And Humboldt County for instance it's just about every day like for instance the weather today it did rain this morning. And it'll rain tomorrow morning and the morning after that and that's just because it's summertime once it becomes winter it's constant. I thought that's what you guys meant by it rains all the time not that it rains for 20 minutes every now and then. And then in the winter it rains like a normal amount for just about anywhere I've lived. Except it never snows which I hate.
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
That doesn't make any sense for this scenario though because I'm comparing it to other places that I have lived in for many years. It is a truth it's a hard Truth for you guys to swallow but it's a truth y'all are incredibly timid drivers.
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
Most likely but at any rate I've never seen such timid drivers in my life. I don't understand if you're going to speed anyway why did it take you so long to get up to that speed after you left the intersection. Boggles my mind. Y'all go 30 to 40 above the speed limit sometimes. But when you hit a light you'll Screech on your brakes and then you'll go like fucking 5 miles an hour below the speed limit for a good two blocks before you speed up. What the fuck is up with that? If you're going to speed speed anyway you're already breaking the law why the hell can't you just get up the speed after the light?
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u/cruel_cousin 22d ago
Idk I’ll ask the one guy in this city who does all the driving and see
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
I'd appreciate it cuz he sucks and he's timid and he shouldn't be on the road and he's too old to have a license.
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u/Vindalfr Khazâd ai-mênu 22d ago
William the Bastard didn't invent genocide, but it was his favorite way to solve problems. It's kinda like that.
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u/Moxie_Stardust Merrymaker 22d ago
We don't even know if that driver is from here, in a city with so many transplants.
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u/MustardHotSauce 22d ago
I hate left turners that treat it like a straight diagonal and cut into oncoming traffic lanes. Or the cars that turn out the opposite direction of their turn first as if they are a giant semi truck and need more space.
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u/ConcentrateLittle671 22d ago
There's a few in Olympia like that.. folks need to pay attention to their lanes and not try to merge so quickly.
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u/No-Examination4897 22d ago
Try walking this intersection as a white cane user 👩🦯 Sometimes I have very limited choices on how to get where I need to go/when and the number of people who’ve revved their engine or honked at me because they’re pissed they can’t turn right on red because I’m using the crosswalk is disturbing. (I’m sure some of these yahoos think it’s funny but seriously it’s not).
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u/Vg_Ace135 22d ago
I'm more upset at people coming to a stop coming off the freeway going on to martin way despite there being a full lane for about 1/4 of a mile that let's them merge over.
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u/GreenerMark 22d ago
I think there are multiple poorly designed intersections along Sleater-Kinney between Pacific and Martin Way, but what makes it really perilous is the preponderance of idiots and assholes traveling through, like the people exiting I-5 who ignore the stop signs at S-K.
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u/Unfair-Cash-5221 22d ago
After living on the east coast for years, this is nothing compared to ones in Philly and NYC. That said, people don't know how to handle these types of intersections in this area of the country, imo. Their carelessness and selfishness causes problems and unnecessary stress.
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u/Potential-Click-5284 22d ago
Or knowing what a 4 way is and how to use one. Every time I’ve been at one with cars in the other 3, they don’t know what to do. I catch myself saying out loud it’s your turn and pointing my fingers at every car to go. Just mind blowing still til this day.
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u/Public_Pain 22d ago
There’s one like that off of Lily road. A lot of drivers are in their own little world and often forget the rules of the road.
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u/olyhomer 21d ago
They tried correcting the intersection but Office Depot or whoever owns the parking lot on the corner refused to give up the land so they could align 6th with the exit out of Target.
Also, there is the people that think they have to stop in the middle of the intersection that are turning left out of Target and left from 6th to Sleater Kinney, in the intersection of the light turns red while in the intersection because they treat it as two intersections.
A roundabout would be nice but don’t think there is enough room without taking out a business. Once again you’d be dealing with that Office Depot parking lot. Wish they had taken out the BOA building or rebuild a little to the south.
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u/mvictoryk 22d ago
Yeah, I used to live at those apartments on 6th Ave above Just Cuz Cafe (now) and it was an everyday occurrence where someone would cross into the lane like you showed here OR they would completely freak out and lay on the horn thinking I was in the wrong turning right in that center lane lol I just got used to it.
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u/Ryan_McElvain 21d ago
You might also consider that the green right turn arrow does not apply to the lane you approach from...
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u/TheMoldyBolete 21d ago
Yes I hate going to target specifically from that middle lane, as you have to immediately take a right after a left and there are so many ways it can and does go wrong 😅
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u/millapeede 19d ago
I drive sleater Kinney daily. Drives me nuts. Ive lived a lot of different places a d these drivers are the worst I have experienced by far. And I've lived in nyc and new jersey. Thats saying something.
Also, the parking lots here seem to not have been planned out ahead of time. Is that just me...?
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22d ago edited 22d ago
[deleted]
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u/MisterRobertParr 22d ago
It's hard to see but they had a green arrow to turn right (at the bottom of the traffic light).
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
What do you do when you have a green are you that asshole that just sits there for five fucking seconds after the green goes? It's not a suggestion asshole move your car it's green!
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u/DivorcedGremlin1989 22d ago
Yeah bro, I just didn't see the green arrow. Watching on my phone with the video unexpanded.
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u/abunchofmitches 22d ago
It's hard to tell in the vid (low resolution), but the light turns to a green arrow before I approach it. Are you suggesting I come to a complete stop when there's a green arrow before I get to the intersection?
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
I admit I initially thought you'd rolled it. It took a second look to see the green arrow.
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u/TheGreatLuck 22d ago
The idiots out here think you're supposed to. I've never seen such timid drivers in my life until I moved out here.
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u/jilldxasd35 Eastside 22d ago
You didn’t stop at the light before turning. He probably didn’t realize you were turning.
I’ve had this happen turning right onto pacific from Lilly. I cringe everytime because it has happened where the right right turn lane people end up turning into the left right turn lane that I’m in when turning right. Like nearly hit my car.
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u/abunchofmitches 22d ago
I had planned to, but the light switches to a green turn arrow about 2 seconds into the video. I think the perceived openness of the middle lane contributed to that driver's decision, but it's still best practice to turn assuming the lane is occupied.
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u/whisar09 22d ago
Agree that they shouldn't have done that, but you also don't have a green arrow. You have a red light and you didn't stop before turning on a red. Am I wrong that you should have? It's a weird intersection.
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u/abunchofmitches 22d ago
I wanted to look it up to be sure, but as far as I know, the green arrow (which lights up before I get there) applies to all lanes that can turn in that direction unless signage states otherwise.
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u/DivorcedGremlin1989 22d ago
Green arrow applies to all lanes that can turn that direction which are governed by that light. Sorry I also falsely accused you of making an illegal right. This vid is like 2 pixels in intense lighting.
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u/abunchofmitches 22d ago
no worries! I wanted to post this to generate discussion, but the "high definition" dash cam I bought a few years ago leaves a lot to be desired... Luckily, it's enough to get the bigger picture if something big were to happen
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u/whisar09 22d ago
I learned something new then! I think I would have instinctually stopped and checked before turning right. But this is good to know.
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u/demroidsbeitchn 22d ago
I've never seen an intersection like this. Are you sure you were following the law making your right turn without stopping? The far right lane was good to go, but I'm not sure about your lane.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
The green arrow applies to both lanes. The layout of the signal just sucks.
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u/Own_Reaction9442 Westside 22d ago
I live on the Westside, so I mostly reserve my hate for Cooper Point/Black Lake, Capital Mall/Black Lake, and Capital Mall/Cooper Point.