Mike Ruby writes:
Metro has released their final proposal for revisions to Wallingford bus service. If you studied and commented on their proposal in March (214 Wallingford residents did) you will note that they adopted their “make changes” option as originally described. Route specific maps are located here.
The proposal essentially switches the 16 and 26 routings south of N 40th, with the 16 going to Fremont and downtown via Dexter and the 26 using Aurora. This means the 31 and 32 are switched to Wallingford at N 40th to replace the 26 in south Wallingford.
The 26 is switched to the 16 routing north of N 65th (with a small change at North Seattle Community College to avoid the congestion on Northgate Way), while the 16 turns east at N 65th to run along N 65th all the way to the NOAA installation at Magnuson Park. The 16 will turn around in mid-downtown and the 26 will turn around before it reaches the King Street Station. There is no increase in frequency of service for the 26/26X but service on the 16 is significantly increased.
The changes would come in to effect in March, 2016. If you want to comment on the changes go to:
http://metro.kingcounty.gov/programs-projects/link-connections/proposal.html
Comments are due by May 31. Metro will have a booth at the U District Street Fair and will make a presentation to the Fremont Community Council on May 18 (7 pm, 619 N 36th St). They will have a public meeting at the University Christian Church (6 pm, 4731 15th NE) on May 27.
To the untrained eye, it isn’t so clear how this relates to light rail. From south Wallingford to the University District, same old 31/32. The pages for those two seem to claim that service will be improved, but isn’t clear how – same frequency of service. The map doesn’t show them coming any closer than they do now, to the station – more than 1/4 mile away? and for all I can tell it may be worse, I can’t tell where the eastbound route goes when it leaves Pacific. It has been a while since I’ve ridden, but the way I remember it, rush hour loads were packed. Whoopee. Thanks, I’ll walk, or take the 26 downtown.
The 16 goes crosstown? The 43 is gone (replaced by light rail? Eh, not so much).
I was so busy noticing the 16/26 do-si-do that I didn’t notice the 48 split. The 48 turns into two runs, the southern end is the original 48, the northern end is now the new 45 run. Older riders will recall the creation of the 44 from the n/nw section of the 43, which really did make the service better. The 8 is now split as well (with new #38. I assume the splits join at their light rail hubs. I hope so.
Caution: snark alert. I believe that someone who never has ridden a bus in their life plays Chutes and Ladders with the colored lines of the bus routes, and has found new ways to connect them. That said, the route splits do help. The 16/26/remember the 6? rejuggling is just annoying for now.
Does the 16 go to Colman dock. Or how close does it get to the ferries. And back to wallingford.
The attached map actually does not cover the 26 at all, that I can see. The 26X does not appear to change, It’s been running down 99 as long as I have been on the bus, which is 5 years now.
Is the 26 Local being dropped, and just a 26X running? I know that was one of the proposals during the budget “crisis”.
#3, looks like the 16 will still have its regular route once it gets downtown, so it’d still get you close to the ferry.
I like the 16 going cross town. It’s currently a PITA to get to Magnuson Park from Wallingford by bus. And all day service on the 26X/28X. Looks good for those of us in West Wallingford/East Fremont.
Actually, all the revisions I looked at seem to make sense.
#4. The 26 is combining into the 26X and will run all day. Through Wallingford it’ll be the normal 26X route. North of Greenlake it heads up to Northgate.
Do we have to take 2 buses to get to sesttle center? Looks that way. I miss the 16 going directly there:(
Why are SLU and Seattle Center so under-served by Metro? Why isn’t Mercer being used as a transit corridor, connected to I-5? I’m glad to see the 70 now on Westlake, but there should be more buses on that road. The SLUT don’t count.
What is happening to the 43? They are eliminating that route? The 43 was the most convenient route from E of I5 up through Capitol Hill. If I was coming from W of 15 on the 44, sometimes the 44 would change into the 43. The commute took less than 30 minutes. It was wonderful. Without the 43, there’s only the 48 that goes up 23rd and people would have to transfer on the 8 to ride through Capitol Hill to DT. The 48 would get over crowded. It would be a mistake to eliminate the 43.
The transit activists hated Route 16 service to Seattle Center, so they must have been rejoicing. The justification seemed to be mainly in numbers – there weren’t huge numbers getting on or off at the stops, a statistic that as usual is all about commuter service – and traffic congestion on 5th. That didn’t match my experience, but whatever. With the 30 gone, I guess we’ll be hiking over from Aurora.
Service has often been bad when I’ve been to Seattle Center, though, because there’s an event, particularly Folklife. That should be a great time for everyone to leave the car at home, but of course everyone can’t fit on the regularly scheduled bus, even if there is one. It’s a problem that could be solved.
Donn- I’m a frequent 16 rider who was delighted when they moved it away from Seattle Center. It wasn’t bad southbound but northbound the bus could easily get suck on 5th N and it trashed the overall reliability.
Iowagirl, the 32 looks like it will continue to go to the west side of Seattle Center, stopping in front of the key arena.
Connections to UW (to south campus AND the new light rail station) are destroyed for Stone Way-99 riders. Instead of the 31/32, I’ll have to hike up to the 44 which adds 50% to my total trip time.
I already gave this feedback to Metro, and I guess I’ll try again…
7, 8, 10, I agree that SLU is under served. Considering the growth here (I work in SLU) it’s really hard to understand. Seattle Center was a traffic issue, North bound the 16 could take 15-20 min to get to Dexter from 5th. And things have not gotten better. I am hearing 45 min from Seattle Center to I5 on Mercer during peak hours.
It will be interesting to see what changes are made when the tunnel is finished…
Now that I’ve got it all figured out, I think it’s going to be a big improvement–especially the cross-65th addition (since I am already lined up for the light rail–go Brenda!!) Also combining the two 26s should be good, so there’s not a crapshoot from SLU/Belltown as to which one to target.
Have been pushing for years for a bus from N 45th in Wallingford to downtown Fremont, and the 16 will finally do that! Eliminates a wicked hill, still goes to the ferry, So I like at least that part of the change.
Seems like the 16 route will be great for teens in Wallingford going to Roosevelt High School as well.
@Donn, I think Metro’s plan would be for folks to take the 31/32 onto Stevens Way, and then walk to Stadium Station. They want to move the current stop pair from the herb garden to Rainier Vista, which would reduce the walking distance to 1000′. It’s still kind of far, but at least less hilly than getting to Brooklyn Station from Campus Parkway. Unfortunately, Brooklyn Station is just not setup to be an east/west bus transfer point for anything but the 44, and moving other routes onto 45th would just make them suck as much as the 44.
When Lincoln re-opens as a high school, there will not be as many Wallingford teenagers going to Roosevelt. I don’t commute to work on the 16. I take the 16 to Northgate, downtown and Colman dock. The 16 route is terrific for seeing the sights with out-of-town guests. I hope the route does not change.
For those of us who ride the #26 to go directly to and from Fremont, this change will mean getting on and off two buses. As i read the map, the interchange stop for this would be at 40th and Stone Way. Stone Way is a wide and open avenue there where traffic comes and goes from Aurora. I hope there will be improvements at those stops to include more protection from rain and wind and more areas for seating.
Obviously, any bus restructure will have individual cases of winners and losers. I would note to Abigail that a rider on the 26 will be able to transfer to the 31/32 going to Fremont anywhere along 40th Street between Thackeray and Wallingford.
I’ve been using the 31/32 and then whatever bus comes first to Fremont heading downtown in lieu of waiting for the 26 for years. Getting the 26 away from the closure of the Fremont Bridge will be wonderful.
The 16 has been routed away from Seattle Center for awhile now and it has been MUCH nicer. Also, the walk from 99 to Seattle Center really isn’t that bad. I’ve done it with my 2 kids many times. I always dread it and then it’s always fine.
Abigail, you could always take the 26 to Bridge Way and then just walk down into Fremont.
#9 Alex, I think they got rid of the 43 because it’s being replaced with the Light Rail.
And for those of us near Stone Way/99, why do we even need to go to the U Dist for Light Rail, at least if you’re heading downtown, 99 is still a better option, especially with more frequent/all day 26X.
22. What do you suggest on how to get back to Aurora from Seattle Center to get the 16? How/where do you cross Aurora? And, yes, the walk is fine from Aurora to Seattle Center in the daytime. The entire area is a bit worrisome from a safety view if it is dark.
Considering that Stone Way is one of the fastest developing areas in Seattle (I count 5 city-block-wide multi-family + retail buildings going up **right now**), it makes no sense to move the heavily used 31/32 from Stone Way to Wallingford Ave., an area with little retail and no development potential. Since there aren’t residents in those Stone Way developments yet, nobody is telling Metro that this reroute is a mistake. But when the buildings fill up, and there’s no bus to the U District on Stone Way, the residents of those buildings (myself included) will drive. More cars in the neighborhood, more cars on east-west bottleneck streets = bad for everyone. Please write to Metro and tell them to keep the 31/32 on Stone Way.
@Iowagirl – Part of the overall viaduct project includes reconnecting Aurora to the street grid at Thomas, John, and Harrison. So currently you’d cross at Denny or the new underpass at Mercer and eventually you’d be able to cross at any of those streets.
There is a new sign paper (bright red) on the north bound bus stop in front of University House on Stone Way for the 16 bus. It says that it will take 15-20 minutes LONGER to get downtown from Wallingford. Can this be right?