TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Monday watch, with new bus pathway

(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)

6:59 AM: Good morning! No current incidents/alerts in our area.

BACK TO SCHOOL: Seattle Public Schools resume classes today after midwinter break.

NEW BUS PATHWAY: First weekday for most buses from/to West Seattle to use the Columbia Street Transit Pathway downtown. (The map and route list are in our reminder published last night.)

ROAD WORK: As previewed Sunday, work is planned today and tomorrow on 26th SW north of Roxbury.

sam-c February 24, 2020 (8:02 am)

You previously mentioned some elec. pole replacement in North Delridge. It looks like they are working on some of that today, on 21st, from Andover to Genesee. The SB section of the road is closed on that stretch- but they don’t have detour signs up for people who might not know how to get around it.

WSB February 24, 2020 (8:16 am)

Thanks!
- sam-c February 24, 2020 (1:41 pm)
  
  well, they were gone later, so they must have been doing something else? They had that section all blocked off, and a little bit later I saw an SDOT truck heading up the big hill (Andover)

Billie February 24, 2020 (9:05 am)

Busses stuck in traffic backup on the new corridor. No pioneer square stop meant I coulndt opt to take the street car to 1st hill. Hopefully they will add a stop in pioneer square when the bus lane is complete. Is there a timeline for the project?

Sue H February 24, 2020 (10:08 am)

At the Dearborn exit a car was in the bus lane at the light, which meant the bus could not proceed on the bus signal because the car didn’t have the turn signal yet, delaying us for a light cycle. The C driver also missed the Marion stop, even though someone requested it.

Matt P February 24, 2020 (10:28 am)

This happened to us too, but a traffic officer stepped out and made them move.
CAM February 24, 2020 (11:51 am)

I thought they specifically said they weren’t putting in a bus signal or any special timing for the buses at the Dearborn exit yet? Did something change?
- Matt P February 24, 2020 (1:15 pm)
  
  It’s definitely there. Turns green for the bus first to let it get ahead of the traffic and merge.

smittytheclown February 24, 2020 (10:10 am)

So, can we assume that the NB99 bus lane will never go away? I still don’t understand how this gives buses an advantage that they (rightly) deserve when it creates such a backup. The time saved while the buses are in the lane seems offset by the time it now takes them to get to it.

Azimuth February 24, 2020 (12:20 pm)

Indeed, Smittytheclown. Convert the lane back to general use and if the backups materialize in 1, 5, 10, or whatever years from now then put it back! I promise I won’t complain! (who am I kidding…)
Shawn February 24, 2020 (3:28 pm)

The lane is very important and I’ll be quite furious if there is any attempt to remove it. To the degree it causes any negative traffic impact, it is due to entirely drivers that don’t understand how to merge properly.
- Matt P February 24, 2020 (5:27 pm)
  
  Why would you be furious? It hurts buses and cars alike or do you just like general congestion better. If you think it helps the buses, please explain how. During the 2 weeks that there was no bus lane and Alaskan Way was opened back to 2 lanes after the viaduct teardown, there were no bucks anywhere along 99 or the bridge interchange, so the lane serves no purpose.
- Kyle February 24, 2020 (6:47 pm)
  
  Shawn, do you ride the bus? I do, and the bus goes the same speed as the cars on that stretch of 99 (so it’s really doing nothing). It creates an unnecessary bottleneck and doesn’t help buses. No agency has been able to show any data on how this is improving bus times since it was re-implemented. Now a bus lane on Alaskan to Columbia I would get behind! We should place bus lanes where they make sense.
  - AMD February 24, 2020 (8:46 pm)
    
    Maybe it does at the time you commute (or you have a slow driver) but my bus is usually zipping by cars on 99 in the bus lane. The short bottleneck due to people who don’t know how to merge existed when the viaduct was intact too. We don’t seem to live in a place where people can figure out merging, but that is no excuse to punish bus riders. They’re not going to get rid of the bus lane. Consider yourselves lucky both remaining lanes allow SOVs and they don’t make one an HOV lane.
    - Matt P February 24, 2020 (9:39 pm)
      
      The bottleneck disappeared for the 2 weeks before the lane existed and Alaskan was back to 2 lanes. The bottleneck causes buses to have to wait to get through the bridge to 99 interchange. I ride the bus and don’t like sitting through 5 extra minutes of traffic for no reason.
    - smittytheclown February 25, 2020 (8:27 am)
      
      I think everyone agrees that the buses zip by cars once they are IN that lane. An advantage commuters deserve. The question is how much of that time is offset by the time buses now need to wait just GET to that lane? The on ramp TO 99 is backed up now as a result. The net gain is nothing for buses, right?

Anu February 24, 2020 (11:48 am)

Would love to hear more feedback from C line, 21X, 120 riders on how the new pathway is doing.

AMD February 24, 2020 (1:12 pm)

I took the 120 this morning. My commute was about 15 minutes shorter (I got downtown at 7:50 on a bus that would usually get me to the same stop at 8:05). That said, traffic overall seemed lighter than usual this morning so we’ll see how it goes once we have bad weather and people get used to the new configuration.
Rob February 24, 2020 (2:45 pm)

I took the 21X this morning. The driver didn’t know to take the new route and changed lanes to go to Pioneer Square. Luckily a fellow rider told him the news and we took the new route to Columbia. There’s a stop on Columbia and Western but it’s unclear that it’s for all routes, riders were confused but happy. This was around 8:00. Traffic was light on Alaskan Way. The ride time was on the good side of average.
- newnative February 24, 2020 (3:41 pm)
  
  I noticed that the bus stop sign only states it’s for (C)rapidline. We had someone on our bus really confused on if she should disembark there or not.
  - HP Steve February 25, 2020 (3:32 pm)
    
    Buses to downtown are not listed on bus stop signage downtown. For example, the inbound West Seattle and Burien buses are also not listed on the northbound 3rd Ave bus stop signage. The C Line is different as it travel north of downtown and terminates at SLU.

Jennifer February 24, 2020 (2:13 pm)

I took the 2nd 56 of the morning today and the bus driver went the old way. When I got off I said I thought we were starting the new Columbia Street way today and he had no idea what I was talking about. Hopefully someone will clue him in.

newnative February 24, 2020 (3:43 pm)

You should report that. I have reported drivers for not opening all doors on 3rd Ave and they get talked to.

George T February 24, 2020 (2:34 pm)

I was on the C this morning and it was slightly faster by a few minutes. Until the transit lanes are complete along the waterfront the buses will have to deal with whatever car traffic there is.

Foop February 24, 2020 (5:37 pm)

Wha-wait?! Are you saying that single occupancy vehicles are the cause of slow commutes?!/S

JM February 24, 2020 (4:26 pm)

Observations from day one.
No noticeable difference in time from WS to downtown. It was 5:30am so not much traffic. I saved about 10-15 min on the way home. Thankful there will be no more waiting for trains.

NH February 24, 2020 (5:05 pm)

Ride home was amazing! 15 min from 3rd/Spring to Admiral. So thankful!

Bus rider February 24, 2020 (5:27 pm)

Evening commute was a breeze. Bus ride was over 15 minutes shorter on the new pathway. Surprisingly 2nd and 3rd Avenue were also moving faster with the new re-route of buses.

Commuter February 24, 2020 (5:57 pm)

The morning commute was about 7-10 min shorter, interested to see if it stays that way. Significantly shorter on the way home which was a really good sign.

Sorry, comment time is over.