Followup: SDOT ‘shelving’ RapidRide reroute in The Junction

12:19 PM: SDOT is “shelving” its unpopular proposal to reroute Metro‘s RapidRide C Line onto California between Alaska and Edmunds. That’s the word from City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, with whom we just spoke. He says he asked the department to stop pursuing the plan, and that SDOT agreed, which he says is “a real win for the community.” While SDOT had said one minute would be saved each trip by moving the buses onto that block, instead of jogging westward from Edmunds to 44th and then eastward on Alaska, we’ve covered two public discussions at which multiple concerns were raised, with alternative time-savings suggested. The most recent discussion was this past Tuesday at the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s monthly meeting (WSB coverage here), during which opponents of the proposal said a lot more could be done by fulfilling the longtime promise to get transit-signal prioritization along the route.

We first reported the reroute proposal four months ago; its first public airing was at November’s meeting of the Southwest District Council (WSB coverage here), where commenters also voiced a host of concerns.

ADDED 2:03 PM: An official statement from Rasmussen was sent from City Hall, including:

“I appreciate that the Department is working to improve reliability of busses through West Seattle. However, it is important that transit efficiencies not have a negative effect on our business districts or major pedestrian areas such as the Junction. Improved bus service will be coming to West Seattle in June because of the passage of Proposition 1 without changing the C Line route as has been proposed by SDOT.”

23 Replies to "Followup: SDOT 'shelving' RapidRide reroute in The Junction"

  • Joe Szilagyi December 12, 2014 (12:55 pm)

    And to be clear, lest anyone accuses of us NIMBYism or whateverism, reread the notes. All of our criticisms were centered on the apparent lack of research and the admitted by SDOT assumption that this would save time. When we asked simple questions like, “What about the impact of light timing at Edmunds on all this? What about the impacts of the free crosswalk and the parallel parking along California?” there were no answers, because those things hadn’t been looked at, apparently.
    .
    It may be a right idea, but it wasn’t fully researched, and we asked them to do more research and come back to the community before pulling any trigger. Apparently the pros did not outweigh the cons.
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    If they came back with evidence and proof (not just a single, low level computer modeling of *CARS* and not buses), we’d likely support it for what that is worth, as would most people.

  • Diane December 12, 2014 (1:30 pm)

    excellent

  • s December 12, 2014 (1:47 pm)

    It’s a shame if Joe’s comments above are true; I would hope SDOT would be more thorough.
    *
    I’m glad at least that SDOT is responsive to community comments and is open-minded enough to reverse course. Good work to the community (including WSTC) for commenting and good work to SDOT for listening.

  • Joe Szilagyi December 12, 2014 (2:07 pm)

    @s – SDOT was still in “collecting feedback” phase and the full research for this was not done yet. They weren’t going to suddenly pull the trigger on this and rip bus infrastructure out on, say, February 1 2015. They had paid a consultant to do research on Rapid Ride C and I believe “E” line to find low hanging fruit to ‘fix’ and improve times. This was something the consultants homed in on (obviously).
    .
    SDOT then did some modeling with software for cars, and that was about it. Everyone – from some overheated and unfortunate rhetoric and positioning of this by some people – made it sound like a done deal. That led to an equally heated push back. There was still a ton of research to do, and apparently the consultants overlooked a lot of even easier low hanging fruit, that we brought to SDOT’s attention.
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    1. Maximum transit signal priority on every inch of the C line’s route.
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    2. Fix/finish/complete/red lane the bus lanes all the way from the Junction to the Bridge.
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    3. Fix Morgan Junction & 35th/Barton as both are way too slow performing.
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    4. Find a way to make signal priority work in the California/Junction intersection.
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    Others

    • WSB December 12, 2014 (2:21 pm)

      Re: timeline, the SDOT page I alluded to in discussion following the story from this week’s WSTC meeting (the unfortunately hidden-by-click-to-expand section of this page http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/transit_projects.htm ) says:
      .
      “If approved, the new routing is proposed for implementation in early 2015.”

  • flimflam December 12, 2014 (2:20 pm)

    very surprising – maybe i’m cynical but I assume at this point that “they” will always just go ahead and do what “they” want regardless of the communities’ desires!

  • Eric1 December 12, 2014 (2:30 pm)

    Good. Now if they would only route it down Fauntleroy and save 10 minutes it might be a “Rapid” ride.

  • Paul December 12, 2014 (2:48 pm)

    Eric1 is on the right track! Even better, they should route it straight down 35th with no stops between Barton and downtown. Now that would be rapid!!!
    .
    Or maybe we could keep it on the current route and serve lots of people?

  • Joe Szilagyi December 12, 2014 (2:55 pm)

    @Eric1 being totally honest, I doubt that Rapid Ride C will ever go down Fauntleroy instead of California, because California right now has more concentrated population than Fauntleroy. Fauntleroy, *today*, compared to California is almost all single family homes for density. There would be no logical reason to shift Rapid Ride there except to benefit ferry riders and people coming from Westwood, Fauntleroy, or Morgan. Everyone in the growing Junction area would lose the immediate connection up there. I doubt Metro or SDOT will ever do this unless density on Fauntleroy Way eventually rivals of exceeds what is on California from Morgan northward.

  • AB December 12, 2014 (2:56 pm)

    If SDOT came back with proof of one minute saved, please bring the debate up again because I don’t see how 60 seconds is worth it. Wait till the construction is done on CA ave, and businesses have time to asses, and the light signal issues are addressed. One thing at a time.

  • wakeflood December 12, 2014 (3:01 pm)

    Eric1, It might very well save some significant time but there’s a bunch of density along California Ave. – I believe the Findley stop is very popular? – that Metro doesn’t want to bypass.

    Not to mention the current and growing residential population within a block or two of the Alaska Jnctn. too.

    WSTC is being relentless with the City and all concerned about getting exclusive lanes for the buses to get across the high bridge and onto Hwy 99 without having to merge with cars. That’s a huge deal and is a top priority.

  • patrick December 12, 2014 (3:57 pm)

    This is obviously not going to be solved by one change in a traffic pattern. The consultants, whoever they are need to start looking more holistically. Is Fauntleroy better than California? (sounds not)Can implementing the signal priority as promised be the ultimate panacea? (I doubt it but it might help)What about the dedicated bus lanes? (they are still a bit confusing along Alaska and often violated on the bridge)Is one minute really that big of a deal, especially when even a simple fender bender on the high bridge wipes it all out and jambs all traffic up into the junction and up 35th?

    There obviously is no simple answer and promising a minute saved here or there just won’t hold up under the whole scheme of things. SDOT and Metro really needs to evaluate the entire route from end to end and quit going for that low hanging fruit that someone else points out. I personally will probably never use it (doesn’t take me anywhere near anywhere I would need to go) but for you that use it, don’t be satisfied with promises of a minute here and a minute there because life is too short to get hung up on minutes. Push for getting you to your destination on time and in a safe and comfortable manner.

  • zark00 December 12, 2014 (4:05 pm)

    Why would SDOT need to hire and outside consultant? Dobthey not have any expertise in house to research these things? I hope they get our money back, whomever they hired appears to be inept.

  • JVP December 12, 2014 (4:09 pm)

    I’m glad Metro is looking for efficiency, and I’m glad they were willing to step back from a flawed idea. This gives me hope.

  • squareeyes December 12, 2014 (4:20 pm)

    Speaking of improved bus service in June as a result of Prop 1, is there any way to find out how far into SLU the C will be going? (and how I can provide feedback when it doesn’t go far enough for me to give up driving?)

  • highlandpark December 12, 2014 (5:09 pm)

    I’m with squareeyes. The lack of bus routes out of W. Seattle serving SLU is the SINGLE reason I continue to drive.

  • RayK December 12, 2014 (5:16 pm)

    Some observers have also asked SDOT to work on the obvious problem of poor SCHEDULE RELIABILITY caused by inadequate transit lanes on the West Seattle Bridge. Personally, I’ve timed an 8 minute delay on the C-line where the driver merged into the exit ramp from the West Seattle Bridge to SR99 from the time he stopped until he emerged onto SR99 traffic. I boarded the bus at Alaska Junction at 7:20a.m.

    Although I’m not a commuter, I wonder how much time slack time commuters allow at that time of day… enough to pickup a Starbucks walking to work when there is no delay?

  • Doug H December 13, 2014 (12:24 am)

    Thanks to Joe S. and the WSTC, thanks to Councilmember Tom Rasmussen for pulling the plug on an idea that would have nullified many of the benefits of the Alaska Junction Transit Center. The focus on detail and commitment to finding constructive improvements for the C line is so much better than typical negative whining…very impressed. And congrats to SDOT for adjusting to citizen science rather than sticking stubbornly to a flawed scheme.

  • Kathy December 13, 2014 (12:29 am)

    Highland Park and Square Eyes, you might consider getting off the bus at 3rd and Pine, pick up a Pronto bike across the street, then you can be in South Lake Union in 13 minutes, there are several docking stations in South Lake Union. You might want to carry your stuff in a backpack though, the baskets on those bikes are pretty minimal.

  • David December 13, 2014 (6:57 am)

    I wonder how many actual bus riders are among the commenters ? I ride the bus to SLU every day. I think that splitting the locations of bus stops at California & Alaska would eventually get someone killed as people would be running across California every day against the light to make a connection. When you have a transfer in your daily route you do not have time frequently to wait for a light to cross a street. If this were adopted it should be an all or none move – I think that it is a bad idea as the current location of the stops is a mini transit hub. If they want to improve speed install a grade separated light rail or better yet a Tube system.

  • Ttt December 13, 2014 (5:18 pm)

    I thought it was a good idea– reduced clogging up on the west side of alaska by all the buses in the morning.

  • Dawn December 15, 2014 (7:46 am)

    @Kathy: i’ve been seeing these Pronto bikes more and more and I have to say I am intrigued. How practical are they for someone that doesn’t get to dress like it’s “casual Friday” every weekday? They seem like a good idea if you’re running a few errands or meeting for coffee, but i don’t know about commuting to work. Not everyone wears polar fleece and Tevas to the office. Do they have gears to make the hillls traversable? Are you able to adjust the seat and handlebars easily for different body proportions? What about maintenance? Are they looked over for safety after every rider/user like a rental car or recreational rental bikes? What happens if the previous rider messed up the chain and I don’t find out until I’m on my way? They seem like a good idea in theory, but . . . : /

  • Dawn December 15, 2014 (8:28 am)

    Do they also rent helmets? How much use do these bikes get when the weather is totally crappy?

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