2018 Exodus / Traffic, stories

[Canoe]

Burning Man Traffic starting tweeting Exodus info this Saturday evening, the night of the Burn.
Entry has been moved to 12 Mile as usual.
Report all lanes are open, exit wait times are zero.

https://twitter.com/bmantraffic
http://www.nvroads.com/511-home
http://apps.nevadadot.com/cameras/default-Reno.asp
http://dot.ca.gov/d3/cameras.html

[Canoe]

11pm, Gerlach web cam showing the vehicles heading South are one to two vehicle lengths apart, other times three to four vehicle lengths apart. Gerlach in front of the cam not backed up. So likely the pulsing is working as it has in prior years.
BMT mentioning various traffic incidents on the highway South, but no incidents shown on the Nevada state traffic maps. And an incident on I-80 Westbound between Lockwood and McCarran that's isn't holding up traffic is visible on the web cam but isn't on the traffic map. Map is showing construction on I-80 from downtown Reno westward out to the CA border, but the web cams show traffic is low and moving great. So map not much use this year?

I-80 Westbound near Truckee,

• Large Carpet or Tarp Covering Lane
• Mattress in fast lane

Wanna bet where these came from?
Secure your loads!!!!!!!!!

[Canoe]

http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ is showing into Nevada too, showing fluctuating minor slowdowns, no surprise:

• between Wadsworth and I-80 west of Wadsworth,
• I-80 at entrance Westbound from Wadsworth,
• I-80 at entrance Eastbound from Wadsworth.

It's also showing the accident on I-80 Eastbound that has Eastbound blocked. Just east of Patrick (between Sparks and Fernley). http://www.nvroads.com/ also shows that one (stating all lanes blocked), but nothing North of Wadsworth...
And now that's causing some occasional slowing of traffic westbound, possibly due to slowing to view.

If you're heading to CA, watch out for a vehicle recovery operation (major injuries) expected in the morning in Yuba Pass where it went off the road and 150' down an embankment last evening, after being spotted weaving before it ran off the roadway. Same vehicle in an NHP report earlier. IF YOU'RE TOO TIRED TO DRIVE - THEN DON'T.

BMT finally states wait time. It's zero. But no times from the Playa to Wadsworth.

[Canoe]

... It's also showing the accident on I-80 Eastbound that has Eastbound blocked. Just east of Patrick (between Sparks and Fernley). http://www.nvroads.com/ also shows that one (stating all lanes blocked),

Still showing issues there.
And just West of there at Lockwood, for some time quickmap.dot.ca.gov has been showing Eastbound I-80 seriously slowed (consistent with an accident) that is now showing slowed Westbound I-80 traffic at that location. Not showing on nvroads.com.

[Canoe]

...And just West of there at Lockwood, for some time quickmap.dot.ca.gov has been showing Eastbound I-80 seriously slowed (consistent with an accident) that is now showing slowed Westbound I-80 traffic at that location. Not showing on nvroads.com.

The eastbound I-80 Patrick incident is slowing clear.
The newer eastbound I-80 incident by Lockwood is growing and growing, now ~2.5 miles long.
The I-80 "Mustang" cam is showing westbound there is flowing fine.

Heavy slowdown shown at the gas station West out of Wadsworth.

BMT reporting Gate is no wait.

New to me this year, a number of vehicle-deer collisions reported overnight along I-80 from the Nevada-California border through to Sacramento.

[Canoe]

... The newer eastbound I-80 incident by Lockwood is growing and growing, now ~2.5 miles long...

Seriously slowed, backed up over five miles, 80% of the way back to Vista Blvd in Sparks.
Doesn't show on the Vista Blvd cam yet, but traffic is increasing.

Gerlach web cam shows road nice and open (right now anyway).

[Canoe]

Seriously slowed, backed up over five miles, 80% of the way back to Vista Blvd in Sparks.
Doesn't show on the Vista Blvd cam yet, but traffic is increasing.

And it's clearing out. quickmap.dot.ca.gov shows it clearing and the web cam shows a large number of vehicles heading eastbound from the blockage, at increasing speeds and spacing.
And now the volume passing the cam is at normal speeds.

No wait at Gate.
Some traffic visible in Gerlach.

[Canoe]

Can't make this shit up.
Incident in CA:

• Hit animal. Does not know if alive or injured.
• Has visual of the Mt. Lion in the roadway - too dark to tell if it's moving or not.
• Officer finds "small fox in centre ditch".
• Changed to "small bobcat in centre ditch".

Another CA report: Vehicle on its roof. Vehicle was involved in Traffic Collision earlier. Wheel buckled under and flipped.

[Canoe]

... If you're heading to CA, watch out for a vehicle recovery operation (major injuries) expected in the morning in Yuba Pass where it went off the road and 150' down an embankment last evening, after being spotted weaving before it ran off the roadway. Same vehicle in an NHP report earlier...

Recovery routed to site. Stay alert approaching Yuba Pass.

[Canoe]

If you're going the South route to CA by way of Lake Tahoe, they're experiencing some delays and stoppages there, including the West and East side of the lake.

• Stoppages South/West into Crystal bad and King Beach, South into South Lake Tahoe, with Camp Richardson heading South and out of Myers on 50 to Echo Lake are jammed/stopped.
• Dollar Point to Tahoe City is also slow.
• CHIPs has been brought out to direct traffic at Echo Lake.
• "Moderate traffic Jam" at White Hall on 50 West and again West on 50 through Placerville.

I80 Westbound, from the CA border to Auburn in CA, there are TWENTY-ONE reports of cars stopped on the shoulder and a "Moderate Traffic Jam" heading to the exchange with 89 on the way into Truckee, yet the web cam just before there looks good.

Burning Man Traffic announced two hours ago that pulsing started. Wait under an hour..

Current web cam in Gerlach shows some traffic in town, no convoy/line from Gerlach to Empire.

Traffic cams show light traffic on I-80 Westbound to and through Reno.

First Exodus chart. It's decided to NOT print the axis at the requested angle. Vertical text is the only way it can be read...
.

BM 2018 Exodus, to mid Monday.png

[Canoe]

Vehicle hit guardrail and is now in centre ditch, I-80 Westbound from Soda Springs, between Troy and Cisco Grove.

Southern Lake Tahoe, both sides, continued congestion.

[Token]

As per the usual, you are a RockStar for tracking the unpredictable.

Thank You!

[Canoe]

You're welcome.
Not much practical live value, but hopefully those reading it after the fact are more aware of the risks for next year, while getting some data for planning when they leave BRC.

Besides, my life wouldn't be complete without knowing some guy in CA hit a small Bobcat in the middle of the night and thought it was a Mountain Lion.

I'm still amazed at what is available 'live' online. Like the claims of a slowdown, but I can go to a series of traffic cams and track an RV and a trailer along a stretch of highway through them, seeing from their progress that the traffic is light and there's no slowdown. Unfortunately, the Flowplayer for NV traffic cams isn't working right now, but early it was very handy.

[Canoe]

"Major" traffic jam reported on I-80 Westbound just before the location that vehicle went down the 150' embankment. Perhaps they've started the recovery.

Lake Tahoe continues with reports of congestion and stoppages.

Everything else looks better than usual, even the gas station on the road West out of Wadsworth...

BMT says exit time, slow, expect up to two hours. I'm thinking however is doing those tweets doesn't remember before they developed and got the pulsing down, back when the Exodus wait times were more like 14 hours. Two hours to pavement is awfully good!
(still no times to Wadsworth)
.

BM 2018 Exodus - into Sunday more.png

[Traveller in Time]

For the coming time the WebCast Camera is watching Gate

[Canoe]

For the coming time the WebCast Camera is watching Gate

Always enjoy that. Maybe they'll zoom out so it shows Gate through to the exit to CR34, so we can see where the line is moving vs. in pulsing.

BMT reporting two to three hours. Still a great time.

I-80 traffic cams show light traffic with great flow.
Reports of some slow downs and "traffic jams" in Ca, but the traffic cams show light traffic and usual speeds, so it must be something very local and shortly passed by the traffic.

South end of Lake Tahoe continues to be a C.F..
Just South of that, the traffic between Meyers, Echo Lake and Nebelhorn appears to be letting up, after the motorcycle accident.

[Token]

Aside from BM, Labor Day weekend is also the last hurrah of summer for many folks out there on the road. RVs, campers, OHV folks are all out there.

Keep it sane and safe.

[Canoe]

On the playa web cam, saw a few large heavy vehicles turn onto the lanes, drove too fast, some crossed lanes, throwing up dust and whiteouted a number of lanes.
Since then, just about everyone driving where they did is throwing up more dust unless they're very slow.

And another accident South of Lake Tahoe on 50, CHP says Westbound lane blocked.

[Canoe]

Latest from BMT, times three to four hours.
Looking good on the Gerlach webcam.
.

BM 2018 Exodus - Sunday volume up.png

[Traveller in Time]

One car with trailer got obviously lost on the one-way road.
They had to make some U turns to catch up with the line.

[Canoe]

Compare the dust from one vehicle speeding vs. how little dust from three dozen vehicles driving at or under the limit.
.
That's how vehicles rushing in to BRC speeding across the playa can cause a whiteout in BRC.
.

compare dust of 1 speeding vs 3 dz under.png

.
.
West of Lake Tahoe,
VEH RAN OFF ROAD INTO PARKING LOT
VEH HIT LOG FENCE
LOGS WENT THROUGH VEH

[Canoe]

And the dust from an ambulance (left) following what is likely LEO heading out along Gate Road.
.
See how little dust there is in the lanes with everyone driving nice and slow.
.

dust of Ambulance and likely LEO.png

[some seeing eye]

Thanks Mr Canoe for creating the graphs of entry and exodus. It is something next year's burners can look up easily. A suggestion, if you use a mapping app with traffic, it should be easy to run a route with estimated time between any two points, ln fact it should not be difficult to do it with the API of Waze or the like. Run that every hour and graph.

[Canoe]

Waze isn't showing for 447. But is for I-80. And that would only give estimates.

BMT used to release the actual times they observed for Playa meets Cr34 pavement to Wadsworth, and Wadsworth to Playa, both coming and going. The Gate/Playa time plus the time to/from Wadsworth is a lot more meaningful. They released it last year, but not this year. See last year's thread for Exodus.

[Canoe]

Latest chart of Exodus times.
Exit times up to four hours down to three.

Slowdowns Lake Tahoe area. Everything else looks good.
Astounding number of vehicles reported on the shoulder of I-80 in California, Nevada border through to Auburn.
.

BM 2018 Exodus to Sunday sunset.png

[some seeing eye]

If I go now and route BRC to Gerlach, I get 45 minutes, We would not know without some deep inquiry with Google tech where BRC starts.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Black+R ... 40.6516223

Then if I route Gerlach to Wadsworth I get 1 hour 15 minutes.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Gerlach ... 39.6338011

Those times are now, Sunday 7:30PM PST, but the approach is general.

I can use those links uncookied and get the same result, not sure what happens if they are used tomorrow.

[Traveller in Time]

Some last minute images of Exodus at the Gate

[Canoe]

• Roads are showing as clear near across the map,
• with the usual short slowdowns showing at the I-80 on-ramps at the East and West sides of Wadsworth.
• A few cars reported on the shoulder of I-80 Westbound in CA.
• Traffic cams along I-80 Westbound from Fernley NV through to Sacramento CA are showing light to sparse traffic.
• Eastbound I-80 to Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Emigrant Summit and Elko are all showing sparse to no visible traffic.
• For those liking the route South to CA, note a tiny hard slowdown on the East side of Lake Tahoe on 28 between Incline Village and Glenbrook that is consistent with an accident.

After Wait times of two to three hours over midnight, exit wait settled down to an hour and is now reported by BMT at one to two hours.

The Gerlach web cam shows sparse traffic and some dust floating over the Playa. Appears light on the South side of the Playa and extends up a lot higher off the playa where Gate road runs across to the pavement of CR34.
The BRC web cam is currently wandering/wondering around BRC, so while I can't see Gate, there's a lot of dust hanging in the air.
http://www.gerlachweather.com/ is showing no wind.
.
Latest Exodus chart.

BM 2018 Exodus Times - into Monday am.png

[Canoe]

Traffic on I-80 Westbound has gone nuts from Truckee as the traffic on I-80 runs into the sudden increase in traffic, congested, coming North on 89 from the Lake Tahoe area.

• Traffic maps and traffic cams show that I-80 Westbound in that area is heavily congested with slowdowns and the I-80|89 exchange is bumper to bumper.
• Westbound traffic from Reno is running into that congestion at Truckee and there's an accident reported just before the 267|89N|I-80 exchange.
• That huge influx of volume is reaching as far West as Cisco Grove as patches of heavily congested or heavy traffic.
• Speed is reduced or seriously reduced in a number of places and vehicles are spaced together as close as a single vehicle length. Usually flowing, but sometimes not.
• Volume further West of there before Sacramento is light to moderate.

Traffic cams showed that the area around Truckee was visibly getting worse while I wrote this.

hwy80athwy89 congested sep3.jpg

The South end of Lake Tahoe leaving on 50 is also congested with increasing traffic.

BRC exit time is listed as one to two hours.

Gerlach web cam shows light traffic with well-spaced cars on the stretch from Gerlach to Empire. It also shows increasing dust over the playa.

[Canoe]

• The bumper-to-pumper Lake Tahoe traffic that has snafued I-80 Westbound and the I-80|89 exchange has backed up the incoming I-80 Westbound traffic, all the way back past the 267|89N|I-80 exchange.
• This is blocking traffic coming down to the I-80 from the North (which Truckee has coming down on it on its East and West sides, as that traffic tries to find an increasingly congested way to join the parade on I-80), trying to scoot around the I-80 blockage by taking Donner Pass Road, where it gets to join up with the North traffic coming down on Truckee's West side.
• That accident location has been updated to being in-between the two exchanges.
• Lake Tahoe traffic coming North on 89 and 267 is becoming increasing congested, slowed and backed up.

This makes 447 from Wadsworth to the Playa look like a gentle walk in the park.

Imagine a congested double-wide 447 meeting a heavily congested 447, with another 447 and two half-loaded 447s joining up with those, with one having a perceived shortcut to the front, only that meets up with another of the half-loaded 447s, congesting as they try to decide on which side of their congestion they should use to try to join the now thoroughly congested double-wide 447.

BMT says the time to leave BRC is one to two hours. Much gentler.
Except on those who will be joining up with those going Westbound on I-80 in California. It's going to be a long one.