RapidRide H Line: See the station locations/routing going to a vote Tuesday

The conversion of Metro Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line is still two years away – fall 2021 – but the station locations and routing are about to be finalized. The King County Council Mobility and Environment Committee has a vote scheduled at its 1:30 pm Tuesday meeting downtown; agenda information (pages 29-69, PDF) notes, “Approval of the alignment and station locations would allow Metro to complete design of the capital elements of RapidRide and move forward with construction.”

We have reported on the H Line planning at various stages over the past few years. Here’s the overview, again from the agenda document:

The proposed H Line alignment … would mostly adhere to the current Route 120 path. That path, northbound, starts at the Burien Transit Center, traveling along Ambaum Boulevard SW, 16th Avenue SW, 15th Avenue SW, SW Roxbury Street, SW Barton Street, Delridge Way SW, and 3rd Avenue in Downtown Seattle.

One proposed deviation from the Route 120 path is that the H Line would extend the northern terminus of the route from Downtown Seattle to South Lake Union at Harrison Street, via Westlake Avenue North, Lenora Street, and Blanchard Street, serving the same stations as the C Line. Additionally, the H Line is proposed to operate on Southwest 150th Street between Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and the Burien Transit Center, rather than the current Route 120 pathway on Southwest 148th Street.

The H Line is proposed to have thirty-one stations serving both directions of travel located an average of one‐third of a mile apart. Currently Route 120 has 41 bus stops northbound and 39 bus stops southbound, spaced an average of one quarter of a mile apart.

As planners have noted previously, one-third mile is closer together than usual RapidRide spacing. Here is the station list:

Westlake Avenue North and Harrison Street (existing)
• Westlake Avenue North and 9th Avenue (existing)
• Blanchard Street and 6th Avenue (existing, northbound only)
• 3rd Avenue and Virginia Street (existing)
• 3rd Avenue and Pike Street (existing)
• 3rd Avenue and Seneca Street (existing)
• 3rd Avenue and Columbia Street (existing)
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Andover Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Genesee Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Hudson Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Findlay Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Graham Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Holly Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Myrtle Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Holden Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Thistle Street
• Delridge Way Southwest and Southwest Henderson Street
• Southwest Barton Street and 26th Avenue Southwest
• Southwest Roxbury Street and 26th Avenue Southwest
• Southwest Roxbury Street and 20th Avenue Southwest
• 15th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Roxbury Street
• 15th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 102nd Street
• 15th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 107th Street
• 16th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 112th Street
• 16th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 116th Street
• Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and Southwest 122nd Street
• Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and Southwest 128th Street
• Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and Southwest 136th Street
• Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and Southwest 142nd Street
• Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and Southwest 148th Street
• Southwest 150th Street and 6th Avenue Southwest

The briefing document says, “The proposed H Line would have an average travel time reduction of 13 percent compared to the Route 120 today, which equates to a 5-6 minute improvement for a passenger travelling from Westwood Village to Downtown Seattle or an 8-9 minute improvement for a passenger traveling from the Burien Transit Center to Downtown Seattle. Combined with transit signal priority improvements made in the corridor since RapidRide planning began in 2012, the end-to-end run time for the H Line would improve by 21 percent.”

Though the routing/station locations are about to be finalized, community feedback will be sought on another point – lighting – a sore spot when RapidRide C Line turned Roxhill Park into a major transit center, for example: “The need for lighting will also be addressed in final design to address safety at bus shelters. Questions about specific locations where lighting is needed will be asked during the next phase of community engagement.” In the meantime, tomorrow’s vote in council chambers at the County Courthouse downtown is at 1:30 pm and part of a meeting that includes a public-comment period. It would be followed at some point by a full council vote.

17 Replies to "RapidRide H Line: See the station locations/routing going to a vote Tuesday"

  • Jort May 6, 2019 (5:06 pm)

    When the C Line was proposed, it was projected to have a 33 percent to 38 percent time savings. Now we’re looking at just 13 percent time savings for this “Rapid” Ride H Line?       They better be doing something productive with all the money they’re about to spend on this rebranding, like making forced roadway changes to de-prioritize automobile drivers who choose not to take the bus on Delridge. For example, they should build bus bulbs and traffic islands that force automobile drivers to wait behind the bus so that they take just as long to get downtown as the bus does. When driving sucks more than riding a bus, it will help build a healthy cycle toward getting more and more people out of their cars. A reminder: people who choose to drive their cars are Seattle’s number one single greatest contributor to carbon emissions.

    • WSB May 6, 2019 (6:22 pm)

      We have already reported on the rechannelization plans.
      https://westseattleblog.com/2019/03/see-whats-in-the-newest-plan-for-delridge-repaving-rapidride-h-line-project/

    • WestSeattleSteve May 6, 2019 (6:40 pm)

      If I remember correctly they already made a lot of the infrastructure improvements to the 120, but didn’t want to finish the upgrade to RapidRide until the Delridge paving was complete.

    • AMD May 6, 2019 (6:44 pm)

      I’m a regular 120 rider.  The 13% improvement on the 120 is in addition to improvements that have already been implemented for a 21% total time improvement.  For me, the things I’m looking forward to most aren’t the time it takes to get downtown.  I’m looking forward to better lighting, faster boarding/deboarding, and more frequent runs.  They only recently increased Sunday service to every 15 minutes on Sundays and only until 7pm.  The bus is routinely packed on runs as early as 5:30am and as late as 12:30am.  Really, if the bus took 5 minutes LONGER to get downtown I’d happily trade that for more frequent service, especially at night and on weekends (but it’s cool it will be slightly shorter too).  Driving on Delridge has been a nightmare for a long time.  If drivers are already cool with the backups sometimes as far south as Henderson and the whole pothole situation and the fact that anyone turning left anywhere on south Delridge brings the whole street to a halt, I don’t think curb bulbs are going to get them out of their cars.  The 120 is already hugely in demand and the Rapid Ride conversion is long overdue regardless of how people feel about their cars so I’m excited to see any kind of progress on the line.  I think it’s most helpful to Metro when you tell them about your own bussing habits instead of speculating about other people and their cars.  Yay RapidRide!

  • TJ May 6, 2019 (6:39 pm)

    The definition of Social engineering Jort. I guess the concept of letting the chips fall where they may and allowing people to make decisions off of that just doesn’t fit YOUR view. Bus bulbs are a terrible investment for traffic. The 2 on California and Faultenroy in Morgan Junction are a joke, sometimes not allowing 1 car to get thru a green light. 

    • The King May 6, 2019 (7:13 pm)

      Meh….jort is a known attention seeking troll in these parts. Pay no attention. 

  • Mr. J May 6, 2019 (7:50 pm)

    Uh. ..You’re one to talk. You troll these comments sections with your libertarian gospel as much as Jort.  

  • Pixie B May 6, 2019 (9:25 pm)

    I don’t see waiting behind a bus or rapid ride  any more obstructed than currently waiting to get around a garbage/recycle/greens truck or school bus or the 120.  I take my grandchild to preschool in Burien every day. The main issues I see are parking on the street by all those living in the condos, apartments and townhouses.  Lately I have noticed more bicycle traffic now that  the weather is nice.     If you drive leave with enough time to get to your destination.  Take your time.

  • 1994 May 6, 2019 (10:14 pm)

    Dear Jort,please remember the bus does not work for all humans just like riding a bike does not work for all humans….You live with tens of thousands of humans and you can not force others to conform to your view of how the world should work. More frequent bus service with just a few riders on a bus is not an efficient use of funding and contributes more to carbon emissions then running the bus less often but with more passengers. 

    • Ron Swanson May 7, 2019 (12:18 am)

      That’s really not a problem with the 120 – it’s one of the most productive, highest ridership Metro routes already.  More service with the Rapidride upgrade will mean yet more ridership.  And nobody has to “force” anybody to do anything.  As traffic inevitably gets worse and parking gets more expensive, transit naturally becomes more competitive to driving.

  • D May 6, 2019 (10:24 pm)

    One of things I wish they discussed instead of just ignoring would be the reckless drivers (bus drivers included) speeding past the daycares and schools; the speed limit should be lowered on delridge to 25 near any school and daycare. 

    • AMD May 7, 2019 (10:00 am)

      The speed limit is 20 in school zones when kids are there.  They are making some changes along Delridge including adding a solid median along a couple stretches which will stop people zipping around the school buses.  What would really help is having a bike lane on an adjacent street or eliminating street parking along most of the corridor.  What happens now is bikes are squeezed next to the parked cars as the edge of the travel lane, giving all other modes of transportation the option of crawling at a bike’s pace or swerving into another lane to get around them, which is just dangerous for everyone, bikes, buses, and cars alike.  The only place the swerving doesn’t happen is where the bikes are using the bus lane, which then slows down the buses and defeats the purpose of them having a dedicated lane.

  • KM May 7, 2019 (7:52 am)

    I like bus bulbs a lot. Besides all the advantages for pedestrians, they are really easy to respond to as driver–you can’t get around them in most cases which keeps the roadways safer for all users. If the bus is stopped, I just wait without blocking the intersection, and do not enter the oncoming lane of traffic even if I can physically (but likely not legally) get around the bus. I’m kind of amazed how many drivers cannot seem to figure this out. I think it’s high time we require drive and written test for every license renewal, and more frequent renewals at that. It would also be great if the busses were equipped with traffic cameras to catch & ticket dangerous and illegal driving, and add accountability for bus drivers as well.

  • JRR May 7, 2019 (8:46 am)

    I long for a day when Delridge is a boulevard that prioritizes transit and pedestrians instead of single people in cars who use the center turn lane like a passing lane and tailgate impatiently so they can just wait on the bridge.

  • Trickycoolj May 7, 2019 (12:07 pm)

    I long for the day that all transit out of west Seattle isn’t focused on downtown. Those of us that drive do not work downtown Seattle and/or work old school shifts where you clock in before the first bus comes.

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