Where the speed traps are in Western Washington

I'm familiar with most of these, since I am a bit of a "road warrior" in my job...

Blue lights on Labor Day - a speed trap guide


BY JOEL CONNELLY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 06:09 p.m., Thursday, September 1, 2011

The white speck beneath I-5's NE 145th Street overpass is a quite familiar sight to drivers headed north out of Seattle early Saturday mornings: The Washington State Patrol has a trap going and is training its speed guns on you.

The Labor Day weekend is when we head for a last long weekend in the Cascades or Olympics, or drive north/south/east for family get-togethers. Here is one well-traveled scribe's guide to urban and rural speed traps of the Evergreen State.

--Nisqually-Olympia: The State Patrol works the stretch of I-5 from the turnoff to Dupont to Olympia: Motorists have been nailed for four decades at such spots as a southbound curve near the Nisqually Bridge. The Patrol makes skilled use of on-ramps -- and even crouches lion-like in the grassy median -- to nail northbound drivers near Lacey.

"We were approaching Nisqually: A guy with Oregon license plates was passing people on the right and pulled in front of me -- The Patrol got him," Andrew Villeneuve, a Beaver State-bound political activist, related from the road earlier this week.

--Newhalem: The remoteness of this Seattle City Light hamlet, on the North Cascades Highway, does not spare motorists. The speed limit on S.R. 20 lowers to 30 mph. well west of town, out of consideration to locals as well as a North Cascades National Park visitor center and campground.

A Whatcom County sheriff's car is frequently on duty -- yep, far reaches of the Skagit River are in Whatcom County -- and slaps a ticket on anybody "cheating" by, say, going 38 miles an hour. The Dept. of Homeland Security has at times run roadblocks here, checking for aliens with a dog sniffing for B.C. Bud.

--Bellingham-Fairhaven: The speed limit nortbound on I-5 lowers to 60 mph. just south of Lake Samish. A fair number of speeders get nailed here, even more where the interstate descends from the Samish Summit and approaches the Fairhaven exit into Bellingham.

Southbound, the descent into the Skagit Valley is where you often find the Patrol -- especially when rain is coming down. Its presence is welcome. I-5 is truck-filled and prone to hydroplaning when wet.

--Cascades-East Slope: Once over Snoqualmie Pass, and past not-very-lovely Lake Keechelus, the urge of drivers on I-90 is to step on it. Be careful. Starting at about MP 62, the Patrol is often out -- and more often out in force on the long-straight stretch as you approach Ellensburg.

Up north, on U.S. 2 entering the Wenatchee Valley, the speed limit lowers at the two turnoffs into Cashmere. Multi-unit speed traps are not uncommon here: Be on the lookout when you see the Apple Barrel.

--Colfax: The little town where U.S. 195 intersects with S.R. 26 in Eastern Washington is the most notorious, and merciless, speed trap in the Evergreen State. It has been nailing Pullman-bound Washington State University students, as well as their parents and football fans, for half-a-century or more.

Watch the slopes coming down into town, in both directions. Note, as you leave town going south, the speed limit remains 25 mph. The Colfax cops will ticket you even if you are going 28 mph.

--Centralia-Chehalis: The speed limit lowers for quite some distance around Lewis County's two population centers: Slowing down facilitates shopping at the factory outlets, as well as reading and guffawing at wacky right wing bromides decorating Hamilton Farms' Uncle Sam billboard at the south end of the Lewistopolis.

A pair of Portland Jailblazers -- oops, Portland Trailblazers -- basketball players once made the mistake of booking it through Centralia-Chehalis at 90 mph. while smoking dope. Don't try this in your own car.

--Federal Way and Lynnwood: Federal Way is the domain of unmarked State Patrol cars. One Seattle Post-Intelligencer photographer, a famous GTO driver, learned to slow down at Nisqually but was nailed multiple times here.

Concealment is the game in Lynnwood: An HOV lane entering I-5 on the left has become a favorite State Patrol launching point.

My intent is not to make the State Patrol appear like snakes in the grass. Speed limits are often wisely applied. The I-5 on-and-off ramps at Centralia are pretty tight. At Cashmere, cars make turns from a dead stop onto U.S. 2. Examples of official greed and vindictiveness -- Colfax comes to mind -- are fairly rare.

Texas has just raised its official speed limit to 85 mph., perhaps to go along with reckless statements by Gov. Rick Perry of the Lone Star State on the presidential campaign trail. And that has revived a Washington tradition I recall from childhood.

Gov. Arthur B. Langlie used to go on the radio, just before holidays, to deliver a pious "Speed Kills!!" lecture. Texas native Erica C. Barnett, on the Publicola political web site, has revived the tradition this year with a sanctimonious, Langlie-like pre-Labor Day safety sermonette.

At times, Presbyterian elder Langlie resorted to prayer against holiday carnage on the highways. The bicyclist Barnett is just righteous. No finger-wagging here. Just keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes open.



Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Blue-lights-on-Labor-Day-a-speed-trap-guide-2151818.php#ixzz1WklxcHH4