Q: Chris Savage of Seattle is curious to know when a roughly one-mile stretch of 51st Avenue South, running south from Rainier Avenue South in the Skyway area, is scheduled to be repaved? "The road is in absolutely horrible shape," he said. Besides the many potholes, the roadway, which is a major arterial for commuter traffic, is so degraded "it's like driving on a road covered with circular turtle markers or on a bumpy dirt forest road," says Savage.

But he questions whether it would make much sense to repair it pothole-by-pothole. "The holes would degrade quickly. Since this is such a high-volume roadway and a major school and Metro bus route, it seems it should be a priority re-surface or repair project."

A: Seattle's transportation department agrees that stretch could use a little attention. But Benjamin Hansen, in the department's pavement engineering and management section, says more pressing projects are on the list ahead of that one. "With so many needs, we focus on repairing the busiest streets first," he said.

That project is not even on the list for next year, or the year after, either. In fact, a construction schedule posted on the transportation department's Web site as recently as a couple days ago has it listed for the year 2012.

So until the city gets around to a major resurfacing project, crews will continue to make spot repairs along 51st Avenue South. Anyone who wants to point out specific potholes that need immediate repair can call the transportation department's hotline, 206-684-ROAD (7623), or fill out the street maintenance request form that's online at www.seattle.gov/transportation/potholereport.htm. The department has a schedule of major street repair projects online at www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/AACPavingPlanList09122007.pdf.

Two of the state's scenic Cascades routes, Chinook Pass (Highway 410) and Cayuse Pass (Highway 123), are now closed until next spring. The passes were closed for the season on Thursday after a state transportation department review of snow forecasts and avalanche risks that could cause hazardous driving conditions.

State avalanche forecasters studied the stability of the different layers of snow and determined the avalanche risk is too great to allow traffic to safely cross Chinook Pass, a DOT spokesman said. The snow pack is threatening to slide down onto the highway.

Crews temporarily closed Highway 410 gates at Morse Creek, five miles east of the summit, and at Crystal Mountain Boulevard, eight miles northwest of the summit, on Tuesday night, before the decision to close for the season.

The transportation department and Mount Rainier National Park staff agreed to close Highway 123 at Cayuse Pass for the season, within the park from the 4,675-foot Cayuse Pass summit at the junction of Highways 410 and 123 to Steven Canyon Road.

Both passes have numerous slide areas that pose significant danger to travelers. Those areas also have been known for lack of cell phone service.

Access to the Crystal Mountain ski resort from Highway 410 is still open.

Q: Snohomish resident Dennis Coons is curious to know if after the Interstate 5 improvement project in the Everett area is done, will the state transportation department's online traffic congestion map show traffic flow in the Everett area?

It would be nice, says Coons, if the map (see: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/) was expanded to include the area at least up to Highway 2, the road the locals call The Trestle, the main connector between Everett and Lake Stevens in Snohomish County.

A: When I-5's Everett HOV freeway expansion project is finished, it should be easier for people to plan trips through Everett because the project not only expands the freeway and adds carpool lanes, but it also adds new cameras and other traffic monitoring equipment, said Connie Lewis, spokeswoman for the project's contractor.

By next summer, the traffic flow map on the state's Web site should display an expanded area, from north of Highway 526, the Boeing Freeway which starts near Everett Mall, to just north of Highway 2. There are plans to install 18 new traffic cameras along I-5 in that area, Lewis said.

Traffic management center staff expect to be able to monitor cameras to locate stalled vehicles, debris in the roadway and blocking accidents, and pass that information to maintenance and incident response crews and to the public.

Some of those cameras can be selected on the map to show a picture of real-time road conditions. The system is scheduled to be up and running next summer, she said.

Q: Tom Wilson has a gripe about his commute between Bellevue's Eastgate area and downtown Seattle during the afternoon rush hour. He usually travels Interstate 90.

"I've taken the bus a few times to Eastgate, but it takes 90 minutes one-way, and it's usually very crowded," he explained. About one-third of his commute time is walking to and from bus stops and waiting for the bus. "Hardly an incentive, when it only takes on average a half-hour by car.

"I know I'm part of the problem," laments Wilson, who lives in the Roosevelt/Ravenna area in North Seattle. As a solo driver, he's watched vehicles whiz by him in I-90's carpool lanes. "I have no problem with that. Carpoolers have earned the right," he said.

But what about the empty double-length articulated buses he's spotted around 5:30 p.m. whizzing along in the carpool lane, with "out of service" or "return to base" displays showing? "What could be farther from a carpooler than an empty bus?"

Others have asked the same question: "Why can't those buses be in service, or at least wait until off-peak hours to return to the transit base?"

A: State law permits transit buses to use carpool lanes no matter the number of passengers on board, says Metro Transit spokeswoman Linda.Thielke.

When a bus is returning to base, it is usually because it is on the way to pick up a new driver or start another route, she said. "So, using the HOV lanes helps keep it on schedule to serve another set of passengers."

According to Thielke, many of Metro's buses cover more than one route or run in a single day, and those coaches can be on the road as long as 20 hours a day with different drivers. So, "out of service" to us doesn't necessarily mean out of service to Metro.

Holiday-season events, including Macy's now-traditional day-after Thanksgiving Day parade, will be the reason for some traffic diversions in the downtown Seattle core on Friday.

Macy's Holiday Parade is scheduled to kick off at 8:45 a.m. from Seventh Avenue at Pine Street. The parade will head west to Fifth Avenue, then south to University Street, then west to Fourth Avenue, and north to the Westlake Center area, on the east side of Macy's downtown flagship store.

The parade route and streets in-between will be closed to through traffic from about 8:30 to 11 a.m. In addition, the exit from southbound Interstate 5 to Union Street, near the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, will be closed from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

Parade planners say up to 35,000 spectators are anticipated.

Later in the day, more than 10,000 spectators are expected to fill Westlake Plaza for the also-traditional Westlake tree lighting celebration, scheduled from 5 to 5:30 p.m. Streets funneling traffic into the plaza will be cordoned off from about 4:45 to 6 p.m.

On Friday, some transit buses in downtown Seattle will be rerouted all day because of the parade and the tree lighting. Regular transit service will be shifted from Fourth and Fifth avenues onto Third Avenue during the event hours, and bus service on Pine Street also will be impacted.

Q: Sand Point-area resident Trent Gillespie has recently started commuting to Bellevue for work. "Although I had heard how bad the commute to the Eastside is, I now have to live through it daily," he said. "The average morning backup is one mile long. It takes me 25 minutes just to get onto (Highway) 520, and often much more.

"There are thousands of other people who, like me, are wasting time and gas at what has to be the worst on-ramp in Seattle."

But after pondering his plight while stuck in traffic, Gillespie has a suggestion to address the delay. It seems, he says, that cars entering Highway 520 northbound from Montlake enjoy an advantage over traffic headed south. At a Montlake traffic signal, 10 to 12 northbound cars are able to enter the highway when they have the green light, while the light only allows about half that many southbound vehicles to go when it's their turn.

"I have a co-worker who comes from that direction, and his wait averages only four minutes, compared to my 25," contends Gillespie. "That is hardly fair, considering we pay all the same taxes."

So, here's his suggestion: Reduce the time the light stays green for northbound cars to turn from Montlake, or curtail traffic to the freeway from that direction, except for carpoolers. After all, he points out, folks coming from south of the Montlake Cut have two ways they can reach Highway 520: from Montlake and from the nearby Arboretum on-ramp. "Those of us living north of the cut have only one," he said.

"I think each having one entrance would be only fair and share the delays we experience equally."

Another suggestion: Gillespie wonders if anyone's considered a park-and-ride lot near the University of Washington for people headed to the Eastside? What about using the Museum of History & Industry site in Montlake, near Highway 520? MOHAI has been talking about abandoning the site and relocating the museum to South Lake Union in a few years.

"It seems this would be an ideal solution for lessening the traffic on 520," said Gillespie.

A: One of the main problems is that when traffic backs up on Highway 520, the backup can cause traffic headed onto the freeway ramp from Montlake to back up, too, points out Wayne Wentz, the Seattle transportation department's traffic management director.

Southbound drivers are able to turn onto the ramp at any and all times, providing there is room for their vehicle. Northbound drivers wanting to take advantage of a green light tend to pull into the ramp's carpool lane, then merge into a general-traffic lane when there's room.

"This means that when southbound drivers should have a turn at merging, the ramp is often already filled," Wentz said.

The light cycle for northbound left-turning traffic cannot be shortened, as Gillespie proposes, Wentz says, "because as it is, the left-turn pocket often overfills and begins blocking the northbound through lane," which is also heavily traveled, with traffic headed to Interstate 5.

Restricting access to southbound drivers only is not an ideal solution, either, because it would restrict highway access to the neighborhood to the east of Montlake.

The carpool lane seems to flow well, and that's a good alternative for those willing to share a ride, he said.

In the meantime, Wentz says the State Patrol has been asked to monitor the area for those who should not be in the carpool lane.

Gillespie's park-and-ride proposal isn't getting rave reviews from city transportation planners, either. Transportation department spokeswoman Marybeth Turner says city policy discourages park-and-ride lots within the city limits. In terms of a park-and-ride near the Montlake-Highway520 interchange, "it would be difficult to find a suitable location," she said.

MOHAI's current location may not be an option. Casey Hanewall, also in the city's transportation department, said the state transportation department may have eyes on the MOHAI property for a construction staging site if and when plans for Highway 520 replacement are nailed down.

At this point, it seems a park-and-ride lot at the MOHAI site is not even on the drawing board.

Seattle's transportation department is determined to get started, before the end of this year, on new sidewalks that were promised to the public before voters approved a $365-million transportation levy a year ago.

So, why this end-of-the-year rush? The department wants to make good on its Safe Routes to School pledge. The Bridging the Gap transportation levy, passed last November, set aside about $2 million a year in funding for Mayor Greg Nickels' safety initiatives, including Safe Routes to Schools, as well as construction of new sidewalks.

Transportation Department director Grace Crunican says the purpose of the Safe Routes to Schools program is to improve safety along designated school walking routes in hopes of enticing parents to walk youngsters to school rather than drive them.

Crews have already started work near Northgate Elementary School, which is in the 11700 block of First Avenue Northeast. It's the first project in the Safe Routes to School program. Next month, the department says a second project will start near Arbor Heights Elementary School, which is in the 3700 block of Southwest 104th Street in West Seattle.

Department spokeswoman Marybeth Turner said nine blocks of new sidewalks already have been installed elsewhere in the city, but they are not connected to the Safe Routes to Schools program. In addition, she said, the equivalent of 13 additional blocks have been repaired.

The department projects that another four blocks of new sidewalks can be finished by the end of this year if weather permits. In some locations, sidewalks will be concrete, and in others they'll be stamped asphalt.

Q: Shoreline-area resident Shawn Koch wants to know if there are any plans for Interstate 5 to be resurfaced between Northgate and downtown Seattle, in either direction.

"The road surface is so bad that my coffee often is shaken out of the store cup while driving 60 mph," he said. "When you're driving at a snail's pace and look down at the road surface, it almost looks like cobblestone.

"It seems as if all the panels of concrete have settled independently of each other."

Koch has a nickname for that rocky road: "kidney killer."

A: The state is on track to begin a $21-million project to repair pavement on I-5 between Boeing Access Road in the south and the Snohomish County line in the north. But not until 2009, says state transportation department engineering manager Cathy George.

Most of the pavement in that section is more than 40 years old, said George. To extend the life of the freeway, the state plans to replace deteriorating concrete and grind down the worst areas of uneven pavement in northbound and southbound I-5 and in the express lanes.

The grinding should slow down the wear-and-tear, and result in a smoother ride with better traction, says George.

But there's a down side. Drivers can expect weekend and nighttime closures during the work. "We considered joining the panels together with rebar (known as a dowel bar retrofit), but this method is expensive and would have limited effectiveness because many of the panels are badly cracked."

Eventually, says George, the entire roadway will have to be replaced.

Q: John Geis of Woodinville has been curious about those white boxes he's spotted near Interstate 90 on- and off-ramps. From what he can tell, they each have antennas that point in different directions, and he wonders if they're powered by some kind of small solar collectors?

He's spotted the name "Leica" on the front covers.

A: A few months ago, state Department of Transportation bridge crews installed measuring devices along I-90 bridges near the Mercer Slough at the west edge of Bellevue. Department spokeswoman Meghan Soptich says the boxes Geis has noticed are wireless global positioning satellite devices that monitor bridge movement. And that helps the transportation department monitor the bridges, which the department inspects annually.

The boxes — about 24 inches tall, 15 inches wide and 12 inches deep — are attached to steel poles. They collect data more efficiently and streamline the bridge inspection process, Soptich said, adding: "We will use the information we gather to plan future improvements to keep traffic safely moving on the I-90 bridges."

When a couple other readers asked about those boxes a few months ago, the state explained that nearly two dozen monitors had been installed between Bellevue Way Southeast and Interstate 405, south of I-90 and just west of the Factoria exit and near the Interstate 405 interchange.

Q: How long is too long for a sidewalk to be closed off because of a construction project? Seattle resident and downtown worker Catherine Cornwall points out that a Seneca Street sidewalk between Fifth and Sixth avenues was torn up for a time not long ago. No work was done for at least a week, she said. The weather was sunny that week, so the work delay should not have been weather-related.

"Is there any way to force the contractor to finish the work up quickly?" she asked. "Or can (contractors) just keep the sidewalk closed indefinitely?"

A: There is no set limit on the time a contractor is allowed to keep a sidewalk closed to pedestrians, says Joe Bell, the Seattle transportation department's director of street use and urban forestry. The closure period more or less depends on the project.

But work on sidewalks and in streets requires a city permit, and that enables the city to monitor construction in the public right-of-way.

Bell says there can be escalating penalties for extended closures, and the city hopes that's a deterrent to unnecessary delays. "To ensure pedestrians are provided with safe passage, street use only allows the sidewalk on one side of a street to be closed at a time," he said.

Q: This state's transportation department has long contended that studded tires cause excessive road wear. So why, asks Dorian Yeager of Renton, doesn't the state have a studded tire endorsement on driver's licenses, similar to a motorcycle endorsement or a commercial driver's license, which is also a regular license with an added endorsement?

Yeager figures the proceeds from fees for such an endorsement could go towards fixing roads that studs damage. "I suspect very few people overall in this state use studded tires, yet all of us pay for the damage equally," he said. "It's not unreasonable to have a small fee for the increased damage."

A: Transportation Department spokeswoman Meghan Soptich says that's an issue that's out of her department's hands. It's a proposal she'd recommend people talk to their elected officials about, since it would need to be changed by the Legislature.

State Department of Licensing spokesman Brad Benfield agrees. "I certainly can't speak for our Legislature," he said, "but my experience would lead me to believe that our lawmakers likely wouldn't add such a requirement to a driver license unless there was a public safety concern with using studded tires, and that a driver should be required to demonstrate how to drive on them safely.

"Plus, there may be easier and less expensive ways to reach the same goal."

Benfield speculates that if the Legislature were to consider an endorsement, legislators might be more apt to look at something like an annual permit a vehicle owner could stick on the car's window, or perhaps requiring those who sell studded tires to collect a one-time tax or fee at the time studs are installed.

"These options wouldn't cost as much to administer," he suggested, "and they would be more enforceable and would be easier for our citizens to comply with."

But, again, that would be up to the Legislature.

Q: There are Puget Sound-area residents, like Linda Kawamura of Renton, who might be persuaded to take the Sounder train into downtown Seattle for appointments or shopping if train schedules fit theirs.

"Since the train only runs during commuter hours, this is impossible," said Kawamura. "Does Sound Transit plan to run any trains for shoppers during the Christmas shopping season? I would think the downtown merchants would encourage this."

A: As a matter of fact, Sound Transit does have a holiday plan. Late last week, the regional transit agency announced its upcoming holiday Sounder commuter rail schedule, which includes an additional Seattle-Tacoma run, but only on five designated days. The extra run would depart Tacoma at 9:30 a.m., arriving in Seattle at 10:30 a.m. , with a return trip leaving Seattle at 2:30 p.m. and arriving in Tacoma at 3:30.

Those five days are Monday, because that's the Veterans Day holiday, and also the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day in mid-January.

In Seattle, the train pulls into King Street Station, with nearby bus service to downtown and most parts of the city. Bus rides within the downtown core are free.

No extra holiday service has been scheduled between Seattle and Everett.

In its regular schedule, Sound Transit has six round-trip commuter runs during morning and afternoon rush hours on weekdays between Seattle and Tacoma, with stops in Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent and Tukwila, and also three round-trip runs between Everett and Seattle, with a stop in Edmonds.

Q: Have you noticed any of those smallish grey squares lying in the road? Seattle resident Jim Reeves has been curious about those squares, which look like asphalt roofing shingles and appear to be stuck to the road with some kind of adhesive.

Reeves says the squares appear to have a small square section cut out of the middle. And where he's spotted them, there is one in each lane of traffic. "They appear to be randomly placed," he said.

He works in Wedgwood, and he spotted them not too long ago on Lake City Way Northeast and in other North End streets, and also on Interstate 90. Who and what is behind them?

A: Rob Brown, the state Department of Transportation's King-area assistant traffic engineer, says those squares are the adhesive left over from a region-wide traffic study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June and July. The study group attached small traffic sensors in the road to determine how many vehicles use that stretch of roadway each day.

When they removed the sensors at the end of the study, some of the adhesive was left behind. But it should wear off in time, leaving the road as it was.

The NHTSA study is to provide nationally representative estimates of travel speeds on public roads. The data collected is not to be used to set speed estimates, but to allow transportation agencies to associate trends in speeds on various roadway types with trends in crashes on those roadway types.

Q: Several months ago, Jane Bigelow of Seattle complained about the Mukilteo terminal ferry-line sign not being visible enough for folks to see it and line up in the ferry waiting lane in a timely manner.

In a response from the state transportation department, Mike Swires, the department's Snohomish-area traffic engineer, agreed something more was needed to direct drivers to the entrance to the terminal's holding lane. He promised reflective orange markers would be installed.

But so far — and Bigelow points out it's been over six months — nothing has been done. "I'm also guessing this project would take about 30 minutes tops to complete," she said. "In fact, greenery has grown on and around the sign, making it more invisible."

The summer tourist season has come and gone. "Why hasn't this been taken care of?"

A: "Unfortunately," Swires confessed a few days ago, "we dropped the ball and didn't place the work order to install the orange flags.

"I apologize for the delay. We have sent a new work order to our maintenance crew and they will install the new flags as soon as possible."

Transportation Department spokeswoman Meghan Soptich says maintenance crews expect to have the flags up within days.