SEATTLE — Buckle up because we’re quickly approaching what local transportation leaders are calling the second stop on the Seattle Squeeze.
On March 23 the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel will close to buses for good. About 37,000 people board and exit buses in the tunnel daily.
The 830 buses that service seven routes that use the tunnel will begin operating on city streets.
Routes will move to stops on three existing transit corridors; 3rd and 4th Avenues and a newly created corridor on 5th and 6th Avenues.
“Tunnel buses will take longer to get through downtown than they do now,” said Bill Bryant, the managing director of service development at King County Metro Transit.
Transit riders are gearing up for the big shift.
“It’s going be a tedious,” said Marcus Parker, an every day transit commuter into Seattle from Everett. “But as soon as I get used to it, I can adapt to it.”
But some commuters aren’t ready for the change.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Tracy Gill. “I think it’s nice that (buses and trains) are all in one place.”
Buses are moving out of the tunnel because of the Washington State Convention Center expansion and the upcoming Light Link Rail extension, which means more trains.
“This is a huge step forward in serving tens of thousands of more passengers through the tunnel but it doesn’t come without inconvenience,” said Peter Rogoff who is the CEO of Sound Transit.
However more bus services will be added to high ridership routes.
It will also be easier to pay for your trip. Metro plans to install more Orca card readers along 3rd Avenue so riders can pay their fare before boarding their bus. Metro plans to add nine more off-board readers to the 21 that are ready operating. This will allow passengers to board the bus through any door not just the front door.
“The purpose of this is to keep buses moving as fast as possible,” said Chris O’Claire who is the director of the mobility division at King County Metro Transit.
Metro says some bus routes will use different streets than they currently use marking many changes as our transit system continues to grow.
“If you have a downtown stop please start looking to see of your stop location is going to change,” said, O’Claire.
The city is also going add a new bus lane on 5th Avenue and another one on 6th Avenue.
“It’s going to serve as a pressure release for the dense area of downtown for jobs and at the busiest time of day which is Monday through Friday at the peak period,” said Heather Marx who is the director of downtown mobility at the Seattle Department of Transportation.
The new transit lanes will be ready on March 23.
To check if your bus route will be changing click here.