(Mike Ruby contributed this update)
A detailed report on the planned transit improvements that are being agreed to between Seattle and Metro can be found on the Seattle Transit Blog.
Specifically for Wallingford there will be improvements in reliability through schedule changes to give more time between stops and at layover for the driver. This does not mean increased frequency of service but it does force a few more buses on the route to keep the current frequency.
The following routes are identified: 16, 26, 26X, 31, 32, and 44. The big problem with delays for the 26 is not in Wallingford but on the other half of the route when it is the 131, but that isn’t covered since that service area is mostly outside Seattle. Maybe they will reroute it back to Rainier Valley instead. The 44 reliability will be further enhanced on evenings, nights and Sundays by decoupling it from the 43.
There will be increased service on the 16 by reducing its headway (time between buses) with 3 additional runs weekday afternoons in June and improving to 20 minute headway evenings and Sunday daytime in September. The 44 will go to 12 minute headway weekdays in June. In September it will go to 10 minute headway weekday peak hours and 12 minutes on Saturday daytime. The 31/32 will be improved to 30 minute headway weekday nights.
The preliminary proposals for the revisions to bus routing due to the opening of the Husky Stadium Link Light Rail transit station in 2016 will come out in March. I don’t know what they are thinking about this time, but the last time Metro released a proposal for the transit station it had the 26 going east to Husky Stadium at 40th instead of downtown. There was also a long-term proposal to take the 26 east to the new Roosevelt transit station near 65th instead of going to Green Lake. A better option for Wallingford would be to extend it up to the Green Lake library and the PCC in the Green Lake business area. The 26X was eliminated. I don’t recall any other changes proposed in the rest of the routes through Wallingford due to the transit station but I suspect either the 31 or the 32 might be rerouted down Wallilngford to replace the 26 as a feeder to Fremont, with a transfer to the 40 or the 28 as the final leg to downtown.
Hi,
I am looking for a good, general handyman – Does anyone have any recommendations?
Thank you!
I sure hope the 26 isn’t removed. With my disability, I can’t be walking almost a mile to the next closes bus stop, especially in the rain! I live off of Latona, so it’s much more convenient.
To CMK-
I think you will have a lot better luck of you put your handyman need in the Forums, in the General category. The comments below this article address the bus schedules.
Best of luck to you finding a handyman!
@Anita – AFAIK there is no plan to remove the 26 at this point. Once Brooklyn station opens, you could take the 31/32 back to campus and then it’s about 1/4 mile mostly-flat walk to the station, where you can take light rail downtown in something like 10 minutes. Metro will definitely be doing major service overhauls once the UW stations open to take advantage of them.
1/4 mile looks easy on a map. In our area it is often uphill in one direction or the other. With, hopefully, parcels in tow.
@Abigail – That might be true in Wallingford, but the U-District is much flatter. The elevation change from the campus parkway bus bays to the new Brooklyn station is about 70′, which works out to a grade of 0.1%. Like I said, Metro will certainly be overhauling its U-District-area bus routes once U-Link arrives, so even if the 26 doesn’t go downtown anymore next year, there’s a good chance you will have an even better connection on campus. Brooklyn station is much further out but that will improve transit in Wallingford even more.