Closure of Convention Place stop sign of ‘Period of Maximum Constraint’

Early Saturday morning, King County Metro closed the Convention Place Station bus stops, affecting routes 41, 74, 101, 102, 150, 255 and 550. Luckily, there are new bus stops right across the street on Ninth Avenue, but it’s a reminder that the “period of maximum constraint” is on its way.

Farewell Convention Place station. Hello 9th & Pine bus stops! Updated map now online. https://t.co/cGHBnPDJuR pic.twitter.com/Qth4pnk6jq

— Seattle Transit Map (@SeaTransitMap) July 21, 2018

The “period of maximum constraint,” or PMC as we’ll affectionately call it, includes the removal of removal of buses from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in March 2019, the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the rebuild of Colman Dock, a potential street car on Fifth Ave, a bike lane on Fourth Ave., bus lanes on Fifth and Sixth Avenues — to name a few projects. A city advisory group has dubbed the time period starting later this year through 2021 the “period of maximum constraint” due to all the work scheduled to take place.

Closing the transit tunnel is all part of a master plan to expand the Washington State Convention Center, which already infamously puts pressure on both directions of I-5 through downtown Seattle. The Seattle Times reports about 570 buses will be pushed out onto surface streets when the tunnel closes in the spring.

Even Mayor Jenny Durkan has warned that traffic will get worse before it ever gets better.

These are the new stops that open on Ninth Avenue on Saturday, July 21. pic.twitter.com/Y0Dz2HSSUT

— King County Metro🚏🚎 (@kcmetrobus) July 20, 2018

 

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest