Friday, September 25, 2015

Laurelhurst Bus Route 25 Under Consideration To Be Replaced By Week-day Only Route To Connect With Link Starting In March, Give Your Input Now

Link Connections.


King County Council is considering a final set of bus changes in NE Seattle that would replace Laurelhurst bus  Route 25 week day only service to new Route 78 starting in March of next year when Link light rail begins service.

The King County Council is considering this route and other recommended changes in the latest proposal submitted by Metro bus service that would help commuters connect from bus service to the light rail service at the nearby Husky station and other new stations.
 
Route 78 would serve Wedgwood, View Ridge, Laurelhurst, the University District, and the University of Washington Link Station every 30 minutes during the day and peak hours and every 60 minutes in the evening. The hours would be 6:30am-10:30pm.
 
Public comments are being accepted by the King County Council, the final decision maker.

"These service changes are extensive and Council discussions are now underway. We need you to be part of the process and hope you will please send us your comments and concerns by using our submission form" the website says.
 
The King County Council is expected to make a decision on the recommendations soon. 
 
The information says:
Link will give riders a reliable eight-minute trip between Husky Stadium and downtown Seattle, avoiding freeway and surface-street traffic.
Metro’s recommended changes would make it easier for riders to connect with the new service. The changes would also improve bus networks in northeast Seattle and on Capitol Hill, using resources saved by trimming bus service that duplicates new Link service. 
 

Here are the proposed route changes:
Route 78
Replacement for route 25 that currently serves Laurelhurst and runs every 30 minutes
 
Touches the corner of Laurelhurst by Children's Hospital and runs every 10-15 minutes
 
Route 31 and 32
Both start near Children's Hospital on Sand Point Way and run every 20-30 minutes
 

Here are comment the Laurelhurst Blog received:
The routes will connect nicely with the new Link light rail station near Husky Stadium when  it opens.
We recently moved to Laurelhurst and were surprised by how bad the bus service is to downtown. My wife works in Pioneer Square and tried a couple bus options. The 25 meanders through the U District and Capitol Hill taking an hour to get downtown in the morning. She also tried parking by the Center for Urban Horticulture and taking a bus on Sand Point Way to the U District and transferring to an express bus. It was still just under an hour. Now she ends up driving to Sodo and catching a bus there. 
It's nice to see the proposed route changes are centered around connecting with the Link light rail. The frequency of the trains is being increased to every 6 minutes during commute times. Combined with the advertised "8 minute travel time to downtown," Laurelhurst will hopefully be only a half hour away from downtown via a connection with the new route 78. 
SDOT and King County Metro are cutting some commuter bus lines or re-routing them through the U District to feed the light rail stations, even after Seattle voters approved more $ for buses.


For more information:
 
 


 

No comments: