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 Transportation Today
 

Tunnel reopening highlights Metro’s September service change

King County Metro Transit is gearing up for a major service change starting Saturday, Sept. 22 – but the biggest change happens two days later with the reopening of Metro’s downtown Seattle bus tunnel on Monday, Sept. 24.

Photo: 3rd Avenue downtown
When the tunnel opens, Metro will make many changes to surface routes.

Bus service will operate in the 1.3-mile long tunnel with 18 different routes, Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sound Transit Link light rail trains will join buses in the tunnel when the rail line from Westlake Station to Tukwila International Blvd Station opens in 2009. The light rail extension to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport opens by the end of that year.

With the reopening of the transit tunnel, Metro is also taking the opportunity to make changes to some surface-street bus routes to balance traffic volumes and relieve congestion in the downtown core – particularly during peak commute times.

Once buses return to the tunnel, more than 20 other routes will be moved to Third Avenue to take advantage of the transit priority corridor that exists from 6-9 a.m. and 3-6:30 p.m. on weekdays. These traffic restrictions have made Third Avenue a faster and more reliable corridor for transit operations through downtown during morning and afternoon commute times. These, and other changes, will allow Metro to reduce the number of buses on First, Second, Fourth and Fifth avenues.

Those are not the only changes in store for bus passengers this month. Here are some highlights of the September transit service change:

Photo: New signage in the tunnel
New bus route signage in the tunnel.

• The tunnel will be served by Metro routes 41, 71, 72, 73, 74 Express, 101, 106, 150, 174, 194, 212, 217 (mornings only), 225, 229, 255, 256, 301, and Sound Transit Express 550;

• Bus routes assigned to Third Avenue when traveling through downtown include: Metro routes 2 Express, 5, 11, 16, 17, 21 Express (mornings only), 23, 35, 54, 55, 56 Express (mornings only), 66, 113, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125 and 358;

• Thanks to the Transit Now initiative approved by voters last year, there will be more service added on routes 25, 75, 234 and 269;

• There are changes for three routes serving the University of Washington. Route 373 has two new morning and three new afternoon trips. Route 372 has four extra morning trips, but just when the UW is in session. And, two midday trips on the Route 272 have been discontinued;

• Two morning and afternoon trips will be added to Route 918 between the Kent Sounder Station and North Kent, and other trip times have been adjusted to make better connections with the train schedule.
Metro updates its routes and scheduling three times a year in February, June and September to improve service and keep up with the changing needs of transit passengers. Bus passengers should pick up a new red timetable to see if there are any changes for the routes they regularly use.

Details of all these changes are included in a special Rider Alert brochure. The Rider Alerts and new red timetables will be available on buses and in Metro information racks this week. Transit customers can do some advance planning can visit Metro’s Online Trip Planner. Enter a travel date of Sept. 22 or later to find trips that reflect Metro's new and changed service. New schedules will be posted in Metro Online Friday, Sept. 21.

For information about all the services Metro provides, visit Metro Online, or call Metro Rider Information at (206) 553-3000.

 

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Updated:  September 10, 2007

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