When to turn left on red lights

Q: Some drivers could use a reminder that it's not against the law to make a free right turn at a red light, as long as the coast is clear. It's also legal in Seattle to make a free left to a one-way street, according to a city Transportation Department spokesman.

Lower Queen Anne resident Cliff Deputy thinks a "left turn permitted after stop" sign would be helpful for westbound traffic on Roy Street at Queen Anne Avenue North and at a few other one-way locations. His is not the first complaint to Bumper about the Lower Queen Anne intersection.

"From my experiences, about half of the people know of the free left," he said. "... I've asked two different police officers with two different responses."

Deputy knows it's OK to make a free left from a one-way street to a one-way street. But he wonders whether the free-left rule applies when turning from a two-way street, such as from eastbound West Republican Street to First Avenue North, near KeyArena.

A: The free left from Roy Street is legal because Queen Anne Avenue North is one way southbound from the signal light. However, drivers approaching a red light must stop to ensure that the intersection is clear and it is safe to proceed before making a turn.

Katherine Casseday, the Transportation Department's traffic-management director, said the department's general practice is not to post signs for standard rules of the road, such as free lefts, unless there is a safety or mobility concern. The free left or right is not mandatory, and some drivers have visibility concerns and would rather wait, Casseday said.

But she said department engineers will examine collision data for that location and take another look at the intersection to see whether any additional signs are needed.

About the free left on a red light from a two-way street to a one-way street: Casseday said that's legal, too, after stopping. But make sure you yield to pedestrians.

Q: Since moving to Lake Stevens from Lynnwood, Rick O'Connor has discovered how unpredictable traffic can be across the Everett area's Hewitt Avenue trestle.

"It would make things easier if there were a traffic cam that I could check before I leave the house each day," he said.

It would help him decide whether to take the trestle or an alternate route.

A: The state Department of Transportation has two snapshot cameras along the Hewitt Avenue trestle linked to the state's Web site, and they are updated every few minutes, department spokeswoman Myly Posse said. One is midspan, and the other is at the east end, at the Highway 204 interchange.

The state also recently installed a snapshot camera at the Highway 2/Highway 9 interchange. Posse said it should be accessible on the state's Web site by the end of this month. The site is at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle.

Find your route on the map, then click the camera icons along the route.

Q: Ken Church of Seattle, who takes a bus across Lake Washington to the Eastside, said he notices many empty buses crossing the lake in that direction, yet his bus, Sound Transit Route 545, is often packed, especially during rush hour.

He assumes those buses bring passengers to Seattle, then return empty to a base.

"There ought to be a way to put these empty buses to good use," he said. One possibility might be scheduling shortened runs from Seattle's Montlake area to popular stops on the Eastside before the buses return to their Eastside base.

"Such a schedule would make it quicker to take the bus than drive," Church said.

A: Metro Transit service planner Jim Arrowsmith said shortened routes across the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge have been considered, but the agency thinks it would be too expensive.

"Also, the deadhead trips to and from the bases tend to occur on the edges of peak periods, when passenger demand is lower," he said.