One more reminder that most West Seattle buses are now on the new downtown pathway – Monday’s the first weekday since the switch. Here’s the map and route list one more time:
Columbia Street, once best known for an onramp to the southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct, is now carrying buses to and from surface Alaskan Way, connecting to Third Avenue. This SDOT post shows its configuration. Let us know in WSB traffic-coverage discussion tomorrow how it goes!
My C Line didn’t stop between Columbia and Marion but continued on to Seneca this morning.I came downtown Saturday morning and C stopped there and this was the drivers maiden trip up Columbia.
Definitely more traffic on Alaskan Way than on 1st Ave, at around 6:55 am. Slower moving, due to construction and offloading ferry traffic. Also, there are two additional downtown stops (for the 125, anyway) that weren’t shown anywhere on the map that Metro made available online and at the bus stops that were closing. After the stop at 3rd & Seneca (NB), the bus continues up 3rd, stops at 3rd & Pike, then turns left on Stewart, left on 2nd, and stops at 2nd & Pike before continuing south to 2nd & Marion. The driver said that, as far as she knows, the stops at 3rd & Pike and 2nd & Pike are a permanent part of the 125 route now. She also said the first time she got any prep for the new route and stops was this morning when she checked in for work.
It’s not super easy to find, but all these stops for the 125 we’re included in the service advisory Metro posted last week, here: https://metro.kingcounty.gov/alerts/pdf/20-125-rt125-2-way-columbiast-alaskanway-revision-feb22-mar20.pdf
I’ve seen the 2nd/Pike on signage from Metro so that one’s staying for sure. That would be amazing if the 3rd/Pike stop stays too! It just makes sense that the bus from South Seattle College connects to the buses to Central.
I couldn’t tell if the new route this morning was faster than on 1st or not. My gut feeling was that it was a bit slower. I’m hoping/assuming that the ride home will be where the big gains will be. Not having to crawl down 2nd Ave, then meander through SoDo should hopefully shave several minutes off the commute. Unless Alaska southbound is a complete standstill….
I left late and found that my ride was probably a bit faster. The driver seemed hesitant as he paused at the Dearborn intersection and I think missed the light. He then drove super slow once he went onto Alaskan Way and we were following slow cars. I hope we get a bus-only lane by the time cruise season starts.
I too felt like my C-Line driver was hesitant and missed stops. Previously, from the viaduct offramp onto 1st all the way to my stop at 3rd and Seneca, at peak rush hour 8 AM, you could count on 10-12 minutes but occasionally make it in 8. Today it was definitely over 15. The new routing seems like it will be slower, for a while at least.
My 9:15 a.m. C-line ride was at least 10min faster than normal. I ride almost end to end of the line, so this was a big deal!
Post 9 C is definitely faster because 1st ave basically becomes 1 lane at 9 once parking is allowed. I’d say at least 5 minutes faster this morning. Before 9, it’s probably a wash although maybe this will shift some drivers back over to 1st off Alaskan.
4:05pm southbound 21X arrived around 8-10 mins earlier than it has been to Avalon/35th stop…so far so good!
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