How more transit options in South Lake Union could help the Mercer mess
Dec 29, 2015, 11:33 PM | Updated: May 7, 2016, 11:34 pm
If you’ve ever driven into downtown in the hopes of getting to Seattle Center, you’ve possibly experienced a mild case of polite road rage.
The good news: Soon you’ll have more transportation options. The bad news: There will be even less parking.
The Seattle Department of Transportation is making transit improvements to the City Center area in hopes of creating faster bus experiences and safer sidewalks for the roughly 65,000 people that live in the area. According to the City of Seattle, you also need to factor in that we have about 25 new jobs being added daily.
In the city’s effort to encourage residents to use other modes of transportation and to make room for improvements, they will be removing on-street parking on the west side of Westlake Avenue.
Other improvement projects in South Lake Union:
• More bus service. Why? A new RapidRide C Line, which will be running every 7-12 minutes. There will also be more service on Route 40.
• Dedicated transit lanes. Why? These will allow street cars and buses to bypass traffic — when they are not being blocked by drivers.
• Wider sidewalks and longer bus stops. Why? Safety.
Expect the construction to happen mostly on the weekends.
