02-22-10 - Light Rail Racing

It's hard to find a fun drive in Seattle proper because the pavement is generally rubbish, it's too trafficky, full of really dumb pedestrians, and out in the East Side where the roads are better it's swarming with bored cops. But I found one fun game to play : Light Rail Racing.

MLK in south Seattle was recently all torn up and rebuilt; it has fresh smooth pavement, and the light rail line running down the middle of it. Late at night (which in Seattle means after 9 PM), it's almost completely empty of traffic, but the light rail is still running. When the light rail runs, it triggers all the lights ahead of it all down the street so that it doesn't have to stop. The light rail trigger puts up a flashing light and a bell and all kinds of stuff.

What you do is hang out on MLK until a train comes by, then you pull out and just surf the wave of greens all the way down the road. It's almost like a runway - long smooth empty expanse with all the cross roads blocked off.