There always seems to be some confusion, and near-accidents, on the southbound entrance ramp for Interstate 5 where Tenney Road turns into 134th Street. Drivers heading east making a right turn onto the ramp have a yield sign. Westbound drivers have a left-turn-only lane with a traffic light, which sometimes is a flashing yellow light. When someone is turning left with a flashing yellow light and someone else is turning right on the ramp with a yield sign, who has the right of way?
— Tense on Tenney
Well, Tense, that does sound confusing. The answer, however, is a simple one. The people making the left turn, even if they have a flashing yellow light, have the right of way in that scenario.
The confusion seems to come from thinking that the left-turn signal and yield signs are at even parts of the ramp, when in reality they are not quite at the same spot.
While it appears drivers from both directions are getting onto the ramp at the same time, people making the left turn are actually getting onto the ramp earlier than people using the yield sign, according to Ron Hagen, a Washington State Department of Transportation signal operations engineer. Therefore, since people making the left are already on the ramp, drivers turning right must yield to them.
